At least 15 people were killed on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street early Wednesday—up from 10 deaths—after a driver who allegedly had an ISIS flag, identified by police as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, rammed a truck into a crowd in the popular tourist district during New Year’s celebrations.
Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street in New Orleans after a vehicle drove into a ... [+]
Law enforcement agencies say a man drove a rented Ford pickup truck into the crowd on Bourbon Street—located in the city’s French Quarter—at around 3:15 a.m. and then opened fire at police, and the suspect died in the ensuing gunfight.
At least 15 people are dead, the New Orleans coroner told CNN and The New York Times, up from 10 deaths reported in the immediate aftermath—some 35 people were reported injured earlier Wednesday, including two police officers who were shot and are in stable condition.
Coroner Dwight McKenna told the Times the number of deaths could continue to increase.
The FBI has identified the suspect as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas, and said an ISIS flag was found in the truck.
Federal agents do not think Jabbar was “solely responsible” for the attack, and is working to identify his “potential associations,” FBI Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Alethea Duncan said in a press conference.
In particular, the FBI is looking into whether other suspects were linked to a set of potential improvised explosive devices that were found inside the truck and in the surrounding area (the Associated Press and CNN reported earlier on surveillance tape that possibly showed four people placing devices in the French Quarter, but CNN later reported the FBI no longer believes they were planting explosives).
Local and federal officials have called the incident a terrorist act: The FBI said in a statement the agency is working with partners “to investigate this as an act of terrorism,” and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a press conference the city “was impacted by a terrorist attack.”
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
The Sugar Bowl college football game between the University of Georgia and the University of Notre Dame was scheduled to take place Wednesday evening, but CEO Jeff Hundley said the game will be postponed until Thursday. He said at a press conference postponing the annual event—part of this year’s College Football Playoff quarterfinals—is “in the best interest of everybody and public safety.” The event is expected to draw tens of thousands of fans from across the country. Kirkpatrick said earlier Wednesday police will “make sure our routes and the Superdome are safe today for the game,” and urged visitors to “continue enjoying” the city, but stay away from Bourbon Street.
Police have not identified any of the victims, but some news outlets have revealed details. One person who was killed is 37-year-old Reggie Hunter of Baton Rouge, NBC reported, citing his cousin. Nikyra Dedeaux, an 18-year-old Mississippi resident who planned to become a nurse, was also killed in the attack, Dedeaux’s friend told the Associated Press. An unidentified University of Georgia student was critically injured in New Orleans and is getting medical treatment, the school’s president Jere Morehead said in a statement. Two Israeli citizens were also injured, the country’s foreign ministry told CNN and the Times.
The FBI described Jabbar as a U.S.-born citizen from Texas who was honorably discharged from the Army. In 2022 divorce documents obtained by the Times, Jabbar said he made roughly $120,000 a year at Deloitte, but listed late home payments and credit card debt. He had two minor arrests, in 2002 for misdemeanor theft and in 2005 for driving with an invalid license.
A set of removable metal bollards designed to prevent cars from driving onto Bourbon Street were not up during the attack, Cantrell confirmed Wednesday afternoon. The mayor said the city is in the process of replacing the bollards—which were first installed over a decade ago—before New Orleans hosts the Super Bowl next month, and they weren’t up late Tuesday because the project is “nearing completion.” Kirkpatrick noted the street was still blocked by a police car instead of metal bollards, but the suspect drove onto the sidewalk to get around the vehicle: “We did indeed have a plan, but the terrorist defeated it.” However, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said, “we recognize we’ve got a problem here,” and vowed that finding a solution is a “top priority.”
The FBI is the lead investigative agency probing the incident. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), prosecutors from the Justice Department’s National Security Division and the local federal prosecutor’s office are also assisting with the investigation. The Department of Homeland Security is also coordinating with federal and local agencies on the matter, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said.
In the hours following the attack, the was some initial confusion about whether law enforcement was investigating it as a terrorist incident, as the New Orleans mayor and an FBI special agent gave contradicting answers. Mayor LaToya Cantrell immediately called it a terrorist attack, while the FBI’s Alethea Duncan said, “this is not a terrorist event.” However, in a follow-up statement the FBI confirmed that the attack was being probed “as an act of terrorism.” The initial difference is likely due to the FBI having specific criteria for labeling an incident as an “act of terrorism.” The agency defines international terrorism as “Violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups who are inspired by, or associated with, designated foreign terrorist organizations or nations.” Domestic terrorism involves similar acts committed by “individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.” On its website, the agency notes that it is “bound by guidelines issued by the attorney general that establish a consistent policy” on when a terror investigation may be initiated. The FBI says its counterterrorism investigations “focus on the unlawful activity of the group, not the ideological orientation of its members.”
Kirkpatrick said early Wednesday the attacker “was hell bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
President Joe Biden called Cantrell in the morning “to offer full federal support following the horrific news that a driver killed and injured dozens of individuals in New Orleans overnight,” the White House said in a statement. Biden—who is set to travel from his Delaware home to Camp David on Wednesday—has been briefed on the matter by senior FBI and DHS leadership and his homeland security team, and will receive further briefings through the rest of the day, the statement added. In a post on his Truth Social Platform, President-elect Donald Trump expressed condolences and said his administration will fully support the city “as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!” Trump also attacked Democrats on the issue of crime, saying: “When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true.”
New Orleans Truck Attack Suspect Identified By FBI—Here’s What We Know About Him (Forbes)