New Orleans (AFP) – A US army veteran with an Islamic State flag and “hellbent” on carnage steered a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year revelers in New Orleans on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, officials said. The FBI identified the attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas. He appeared to have been a real estate agent working in Houston and had served as an IT specialist in the military.
Officials said they were searching for accomplices but gave few details. Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick described Jabbar as a “terrorist,” while the FBI stated that “an ISIS flag was located in the vehicle,” using another name for the Islamic State armed group. “The FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,” the agency said in a statement. US President Joe Biden, describing the attack as “despicable,” mentioned that hours before the incident, Jabbar had posted videos online “indicating that he was inspired by ISIS.”
Officials noted that a manhunt was underway, with FBI agent Alethea Duncan warning that authorities “do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible.” “We’re hunting some bad people down,” said Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. An FBI spokesman told AFP that 15 people had been killed, citing the New Orleans coroner’s office.
– Aiming for ‘carnage’ –
Police reported that the incident began around 3:15 am (0915 GMT) in the heart of the French Quarter, which was packed with people celebrating the start of 2025. The suspect drove a white Ford F-150 electric pickup into a group of pedestrians, then exited and was killed in a shootout with police, two of whom were wounded. Two homemade bombs were found and neutralized, the FBI stated. “This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” Kirkpatrick told reporters.
Driving at “very high speed” and in a “very intentional” manner, “he was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said. The wounded officers were reported to be in stable condition and Kirkpatrick confirmed that they would recover. The Pentagon shared that Jabbar served in the army as a human resources specialist and an IT specialist from 2007 to 2015, later joining the army reserve until 2020. He had deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 until January 2010, with an army spokesperson stating that he held the rank of Staff Sergeant at the end of his service.
Biden revealed that law enforcement were also investigating any potential links between Jabbar’s attack and an explosion later Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel partly owned by US President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas, which resulted in one fatality. “Thus far, there’s nothing to report on that score,” he stated, while police in Las Vegas deemed it an “isolated” incident. Trump swiftly linked the New Orleans attack to illegal immigration, providing no evidence for the assertion, in a statement made before authorities identified the suspect as American.
– Horror in iconic neighborhood –
In the early hours of the year’s first day, revelers were celebrating in the French Quarter, a district celebrated for its bars, restaurants, jazz history, and Mardi Gras parties. Bystander Zion Parsons described the scene as instantly transforming into a “war zone.” “There were bodies and blood and all the trash,” he told CNN. “People were terrified, running, screaming,” he recounted.
Another witness, 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 is among the most heavily visited destinations in the United States and is set to host the NFL’s Super Bowl game on February 9, one of the largest sporting events of the year. The attack occurred just hours before the city was scheduled to host the Sugar Bowl, a major college football game, which was subsequently delayed until Thursday, officials confirmed. Policing had already been notably heavy over the New Year’s holiday, as authorities prepared for large crowds.
© 2024 AFP
