Driver expressed desire to kill before ramming New Orleans revelers, Biden says; 15 dead in attack
NEW ORLEANS — An Army veteran driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group wrought carnage on New Orleans’ raucous New Year’s celebration, killing at least 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revelers before being shot dead by police.
The FBI said it was investigating the attack early Wednesday in the city’s French Quarter as a terrorist act and did not believe the driver acted alone.
President Biden said Wednesday evening that the FBI found videos that the driver had posted to social media hours before the attack in which he said he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressed a desire to kill.
In addition to those killed, the rampage on Bourbon Street injured more than 35 people, many critically. Pedestrians fled to safety inside nightclubs and restaurants. One man watched in horror as authorities placed a tarp over his friend’s body after she was hit and thrown some 30 feet.
“This is not just an act of terrorism. This is evil,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said. The driver “defeated” safety measures that were in place to protect pedestrians, she said, and was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
The FBI identified the driver as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran from Texas, and said it is working to determine Jabbar’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.
“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said at a news conference.
Investigators found multiple improvised explosive devices, law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times. Two homemade bombs packed with nails were concealed in blue coolers, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The devices were wired for remote detonation, and a corresponding remote control was discovered inside the attacker’s truck, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by the Associated Press.
The bulletin, relying on information gathered soon after the attack, also said surveillance footage showed three men and a woman placing one of the devices, but federal officials did not immediately confirm that detail and it wasn’t clear who the individuals in the video were or what connection they may have had to the attack.
Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck onto a sidewalk, going around a police car that was positioned to block vehicular traffic, authorities said. A barrier system meant to prevent vehicle attacks was undergoing repairs in preparation for the Super Bowl, which is scheduled to take place in the city in February.
Police killed Jabbar after he got out of the truck and opened fire on officers, police said. Three officers returned fire. Two officers were shot and were in stable condition, police said. They were in addition to 33 people injured in the vehicle attack.
Law enforcement officials told The Times that Jabbar was wearing body armor. Investigators recovered a handgun and an AR-style rifle after the shootout, a law enforcement official said. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A photo circulated among law enforcement officials showed a bearded Jabbar wearing camouflage next to the truck after he was killed. The flag of the Islamic State group was on the truck’s trailer hitch, the FBI said.
“For those people who don’t believe in objective evil, all you have to do is look at what happened in our city early this morning,” U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said. “If this doesn’t trigger the gag reflex of every American, every fair-minded American, I’ll be very surprised.”
Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.
Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Miss., said he saw the truck “barreling through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air.”
Parsons said he heard gunshots and ran through a gruesome aftermath of bleeding and maimed victims.
“Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering,” Parsons told the AP. “People crying on the floor.”
His friend, 18-year-old aspiring nurse Nikyra Dedeaux, was among the people killed.
Parsons said he called hospitals and the morgue, searching for answers about the location of Dedeaux’s body. He later called her family to deliver the news.
“I hadn’t had time to cry up until I called her mother and she asked me, ‘Where’s my baby?’” Parsons said. “That broke me.”
Gov. Jeff Landry urged people to avoid the area, which remained an active crime scene.
Tens of thousands of college football fans were in the city for the Sugar Bowl game between Georgia and Notre Dame at the nearby Superdome, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday evening. The game was postponed until Thursday. A Georgia student was critically hurt in the attack, university president Jere Morehead said.
A jury has convicted a Wisconsin man of killing six people and injuring dozens of others when he drove his SUV into a Christmas parade last year.
In Southern California, officials expressed condolences for New Orleans and said they were working to ensure the safety of area events.
“The Los Angeles Police Department is coordinating with federal partners to keep Angelenos safe...,” L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said on X. Our city’s thoughts are with the families and communities impacted by this morning’s horrific incident.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell offered “condolences to the victims, families, and all those affected by the senseless terrorist attack in New Orleans. The New Orleans Police Department and first responders deserve to be recognized for exhibiting extreme bravery under horrific circumstances. I’m confident that their actions prevented the suspect from inflicting additional harm.
“Locally, the LAPD continues to work alongside our federal and state partners to keep Los Angeles safe and remain vigilant as the Rose Bowl Game and other events take place,” he said in a statement. “While there are no known threats at this time, we encourage everyone — if you see something, say something.”
Just hours after after the New Orleans attack, a Cybertruck burst into flames outside the glass entrance doors of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, killing one person and injuring seven others. Police and FBI officials said the type of vehicle and location of the fire raised many questions. But officials have not said the incidents are linked.
Hours after the New Orleans attack, several coroner’s vans were parked on the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets, cordoned off by police tape with crowds of dazed tourists standing around, some trying to navigate their luggage through the labyrinth of blockades.
Elsewhere, life went on in the city known to some for a motto that translates to “let the good times roll.”
Near Bourbon and Canal streets, close to where the truck came to rest, some people were talking about the attack while others dressed in Georgia gear talked football. At a cafe a block away from the crime scene, people crowded in for breakfast as upbeat pop music played. Two blocks away, people stood around drinking beer at a bar.
Biden, speaking from the presidential retreat at Camp David, called the attack a “despicable” and “heinous act.” Addressing the victims and the people of New Orleans, he said: “I want you to know I grieve with you. Our nation grieves with you as you mourn and as you heal.”
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” Biden said in a statement. “There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
A split among jurors means there will be no death penalty for an Islamic extremist who raced a truck along a popular New York bike path in 2017, killing 8.
President-elect Donald Trump and some other Republicans claimed the driver was an immigrant. Trump wrote on Truth Social that “the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country.” Jabbar said in a 2020 YouTube video that he was born in Beaumont, Texas.
The attack is the latest example of a vehicle being used as a weapon to carry out mass violence, a trend that has alarmed law enforcement officials and that can be difficult to protect against.
A 50-year-old Saudi doctor plowed into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers in the German city of Magdeburg last month, killing four women and a 9-year-old boy.
GRAPHIC: Video footage shows a car plowing into a crowd of peaceful marchers on Aug. 12, 2017, following violent clashes between protesters and counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.
A man who drove his SUV through a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee in 2021 is serving a life sentence after a judge rejected arguments from him and his family that mental illness spurred him to do it. Six people were killed.
An Islamic extremist was sentenced last year to 10 life sentences for killing eight people with a truck on a bike path in Manhattan on Halloween in 2017.
Also in 2017, a self-proclaimed admirer of Adolf Hitler slammed his car into counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and is now serving a life sentence.
If the New Orleans attack is confirmed as inspired by Islamic State, it would represent the deadliest such assault on U.S. soil in years. FBI officials have repeatedly warned about an elevated international terrorism threat due to the Israel-Hamas war.
In the last year, the FBI has disrupted other potential attacks inspired by the militant group, including in October when agents arrested an Afghan man in Oklahoma accused of plotting an election day attack targeting large crowds.
Tucker, Mustian, McGill and Herbert write for the Associated Press. Times staff writers Melody Gutierrez and Richard Winton and the AP’s Stephen Smith, Kevin McGill and Chevel Johnson in New Orleans and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
