Who was Shamsud Din Jabbar? Army vet turned New Orleans terrorist who threatened to kill family & saw ISIS in his dreams
THE suspected terrorist behind the New Year New Orleans car ramming attack that killed at least 15 and injured dozens more has been named as 42-year-old American citizen Shamsud Din Jabbar.
Chilling footage from 2020 has emerged of the alleged killer, 42, introducing himself to camera, and the FBI has found videos where he discussed killing his family.
The first victims of the attack – described by survivors as “like a horror movie” – have been named by grieving families and friends, and include a teenage aspiring nurse.
Now, Jabbar’s ex-wife has revealed he was “abusive” in their relationship and whilst another of his ex-wives secured a restraining order against him.
What happened?
A pick-up truck accelerated down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, one of America’s most famous party streets, at 3:15am on January 1 and smashed into crowds of revellers.
The driver, dressed in “full military gear”, got out of the car after the truck crashed into a crane and opened fire on people in the street.
He then entered a shootout with police in which two cops were injured and the suspect shot dead.
The FBI is investigating the incident as an “act of terrorism” after an ISIS flag was found strapped to the rented Ford truck and potential homemade bombs were found in the vehicle.
The FBI said it did not believe that Jabbar was “solely responsible” for Wednesday’s attack and is looking into “potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organisations”.
Officials are considering a possible link between the New Orleans attack and a Tesla cyber truck that exploded in Las Vegas outside one of Donald Trump’s hotels.
Joe Biden said the FBI had found videos posted by the suspect hours before the attack where he said he had a “desire to kill” and was “inspired by” the Islamic State.
He gave his condolences to the families of the “despicable” and “heinous act”.
In the videos, Jabbar discusses how he had planned to gather his family for a “celebration” and then kill them, but changed his plans and joined ISIS.
Officials said he recounted several dreams that convinced him he should become a terrorist.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anna Kirkpatrick said the attack was “very intentional” and the man was “trying to run over as many people as he could”.
“He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” she added.
Who is the suspect?
The FBI has identified the suspect as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, a US father-of-three from Texas who was married and divorced twice.
Jabbar was a US army veteran who served for more than 10 years, including a deployment to Afghanistan in 2009.
He studied information technology, recently held a six-figure job and converted to Islam after being brought up Christian.
A man named Abdur Jabbar in Beaumont, Texas, told The New York Times he was the suspect’s brother.
He described Jabbar as “a sweetheart really, a nice guy, a friend, really smart, caring”.
He said Jabber had converted to Islam at a young age, but that “what he did does not represent Islam.
“This is more some type of radicalisation, not religion.”
Alethea Duncan of the FBI said: “We believe he was honorably discharged, but we are working through this process, figuring out all this information.”
A US army spokesperson confirmed to ABC that Jabbar served in human resources and information technology roles from 2007 to 2015 in the army, but he was not involved in direct combat.
He then continued as an IT specialist in the Army Reserve from 2015 to 2020, the spokesperson said, and left at the rank of staff sergeant.
Jabbar enlisted in the Navy in August 2024, 5 months before the attack, but did not go to boot camp and was discharged from the programme a month later, a Navy spokesperson said.
Jabbar was married twice: first to Nakedra Marsh and then to Shaneen Jabbar from who he was divorced in 2012 and 2020 respectively.
Dwayne Marsh, who is married to Nakedra, said Jabbar had been actin erratically in recent months.
Dwayne said Jabbar was “being all crazy, cutting his hair” after converting to Islam.
He added that Nakedra had stopped allowing the two daughters she shared with Jabbar, aged 15 and 20, to spend time with him.
Jabbar also has a 6-year-old son from his second wife.
According to TMZ, a woman who identifies herself as “Teira” says she was married to Jabbar for five years and that he abused her during the unhappy relationship.
She did not think he was capable of mass murder, however, and did not think that he was driven by such hatred.
TMZ said Tiera last heard from Jabbar about two months ago when he reached out to tell her he’d been thinking about the son they lost when she suffered a miscarriage.
She said they had a pleasant conversation reflecting on the past.
Public records show that Jabbar’s second wife filed for a temporary restraining order against him.
The order forbade Jabbar from, among other things, sending threatening or obscene messages to his wife or causing “bodily injury” to her or their child.
In a 2020 promotional Youtube video, Jabbar said he was “born and raised” in Beaumont, Texas, and moved to Houston to work as a Realtor.
He opens the video with: “Good evening, I’m Shamsud Din Jabbar.
“I just want to say hello and let you know a little bit about me.”
He says that in the army he learned “the meaning of great service” and “what it means to be responsive and take everything seriously”.
The New York Times reported that Jabbar has been arrested twice: once in Katy, texas, for theft in 2002, and once in 2005 for driving with an invalid licence.
In both cases he was fined $100 by the court.
The New York Post has reported that Jabba was living in a run-down trailer park on the outskirts of Houston where he kept sheep and goats in the yard.
One neighbour, Francois Venegas, described Jabbar as a “simple person” who kept to himself, but said they would occasionally exchange words on the street.
Venegas said: “[He was] pretty quiet…Just walking, [he would say] ‘hello,’ ‘hola,’ and that was it.”
Photos of the place he is thought to have lived show a squalid static home surrounded by dirty animal cages.
According to the paper, geese, chickens, goats and sheep roamed freely in Jabbar’s yard when they visited it.
The site was later cordoned off by police.
Who were the victims?
Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, has been named by her friend as one of the victims of the attack.
Zion Parsons celebrating the New Year with Nikyra when she was ploughed into by the truck at high speed.
He said: “A truck hit the corner and comes barrelling through throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air.
“It hit her and flung her like at least 30 feet and I was just lucky to be alive.”
Another victim, Martin “Tiger” Bech, was on Bourbon Street when the truck hit him, his mother told NBC.
Michelle Bech added that she was able to say goodbye to her son before he died in hospital.
Martin was a Princeton University graduate living in New York City, where he worked as a junior bond trader for a Wall Street company.
His brother Jack posted on X: “Love you always brother!
“You inspired me every day now you get to be with me in every moment.
“I got this family T, don’t worry.
“This is for us.”
Matthew Tenedorio, 25, was shot dead by the attacker when he exited the truck and opened fire, according to his grieving mother.
Cathy Tenedorio, from Carriere in Mississippi, said she had dinner with her son on New Year’s Eve, hours before he was killed.
She told Sky News: “Matthew and his friends all decided to go into The Quarter.
“We tried to talk him out of it.
“They were walking down Bourbon Street at around 3:15am when everything happened right in front of them.
“The truck crashed into a construction lift.
“The man jumped out and started firing the gun.
“My son was killed instantly… I just hugged and kissed him last night, told him I loved him.
“He had so much hope, a great future working at the Super Dome stadium in New Orleans.
“He had the job of his dreams.”
Also killed was Nicole Perez, a single mother to a four-year-old son.
Nicole, in her late twenties, had recently been promoted to a manager role at her deli job and was “really excited about it”, according to Kimberly Usher, her employer.
Nicole was a “really good mom” and would bring her son, Melo, to work and teach him during her breaks, Kimberly added.