A US Army veteran carrying an Islamic State flag and ‘hellbent’ on mayhem drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revellers in New Orleans on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and injuring scores, according to officials.
The perpetrator was identified by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas.
He looked to be a Houston real estate agent who had previously served as an IT specialist in the military. Officials stated they were looking for accomplices but provided few specifics.
Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick identified Jabbar as a “terrorist,” and the FBI stated that “an ISIS flag was located in the vehicle,” referring to the Islamic State jihadist group.
US President Joe Biden called the attack “despicable,” claiming Jabbar had put videos online hours before “indicating that he was inspired by ISIS.”
Biden also stated that law enforcement agencies were looking into any possible links between the attack and the later Wednesday explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by US President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas, which killed one person, though he cautioned that none had been discovered thus far.
Officials said a manhunt was underway, and FBI agent Alethea Duncan warned that officials “do not believe Jabbar was solely responsible.”
According to Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, “We’re hunting some bad people down.”
The FBI stated that it was carrying out search warrants in New Orleans “and other states.”
Earlier, the bureau’s field office in Houston stated that it was carrying out “related” activities to the New Orleans incident.
An FBI spokeswoman informed AFP that the attack killed 15 people, citing the New Orleans coroner’s office.
Police said the incident occurred around 3:15 a.m. (0915 GMT) near Bourbon Street in the centre of the French Quarter, which was filled with revellers celebrating the start of 2025.
The guy drove a white Ford F-150 electric pickup into a crowd of pedestrians before exiting and being slain in a gunfight with police, two of whom were injured.
The FBI reported that two improvised devices had been discovered and neutralised.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” Kirkpatrick told reporters.
“He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said, driving at “very high speed” and in a “very intentional” manner.
According to the Pentagon, Jabbar served in the Army as a human resources and information technology specialist from 2007 to 2015 and then in the Army Reserve until 2020.
He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, according to an army official.
Biden stated that “thus far, there’s nothing” linking the New Orleans attack to the Las Vegas explosion, which police called an “isolated” event.
The automobiles in both occasions were booked through Turo, a popular car-sharing app. The sheriff in Las Vegas said that was a “coincidence… that we have to continue to look into.”
A spokeswoman for the app, which is used by millions of people in the United States, confirmed that they were collaborating with law enforcement.
“We do not believe that either renter… had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat,” the spokesperson told AFP.
In the early hours of the new year, revellers were celebrating in the French Quarter, a neighbourhood known for its clubs, restaurants, jazz history, and Mardi Gras parties.
According to bystander Zion Parsons, the celebration devolved into a horrific spectacle.
“The best way I can describe it is truly a war zone,” he told CNN. “There were bodies and blood and all the trash.”
“People were terrified, running, screaming,” he said.
Another eyewitness, Jimmy Cothran, told ABC that the mayhem was “insanity.”
“We instantly counted, I’d say, 10 bodies—six clearly, graphically deceased, and the others yelling with no one around,” he said.
New Orleans, one of the most popular tourist sites in the United States, will host the Super Bowl next month.
The attack occurred just hours before the city was set to host the Sugar Bowl, a big college football game. It was postponed until Thursday.
