Everything we know about New Orleans attack – from ISIS link to victims
A US Army veteran displaying an Islamic State flag killed 15 people and left dozens more badly hurt in a terror attack in New Orleans yesterday.
Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, sped into crowds of revellers lining Bourbon Street in the city’s famed French Quarter hours after ringing in the New Year.
The FBI agent leading the investigation, Alethea Duncan, told reporters investigators are looking into a ‘range of suspects’, adding: ‘We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates.’
The victims included the mother of a 4-year-old who had just moved into a new apartment after getting a promotion at work, a New York financial employee and accomplished student athlete who was visiting home for the holidays, and an 18-year-old aspiring nurse from Mississippi.
Here is everything we know so far.
What happened in New Orleans?
Jabbar managed to get by the police barricades in place on Bourbon Street and drive into crowds of revellers at high speed.
Police chief Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters in an initial update yesterday: ‘He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.’
At least 15 people were killed and around 35 more left injured.
Two police officers were also shot when Jabbar got out of his vehicle and opened fire. He was killed in the exchange.
Detectives later found potential improvised explosive devices in the French Quarter.
Investigations into their viability are ongoing.
Who is the driver and what was his motive?
The driver has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, a US citizen and Army veteran from Texas.
A flag representing the Islamic State group was found on the vehicle’s trailer hitch. The FBI is trying to determine if Jabbar was associated with any terrorist organisations.
Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said during a news conference that the agency does not believe Jabbar acted alone.
Jabbar enlisted in the Army in March 2007, working in both human resources and information technology.
He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, then transferred into the US Army Reserve in 2015, the service said in a statement. Jabbar served until July 2020, leaving the military with the rank of staff sergeant.
Court records show he faced a deteriorating financial situation in 2022 while separating from his then-wife.
Jabbar said he was $27,000 behind on house payments, accumulated $16,000 in credit card debt and wanted to quickly finalize the divorce.
‘I have exhausted all means of bringing the loan current other than a loan modification, leaving us no alternative but to sell the house or allow it to go into foreclosure,’ he wrote in a January 2022 email to his now-ex-wife’s attorney.
At the time, court documents show he made about $10,000 a month doing business development and other work for the consulting firm Deloitte.
In a statement, Deloitte said Jabbar had ‘served in a staff-level role’ since being hired in 2021 and that the company was doing all it could to assist authorities.
Is there a link with the Tesla cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas?
In Las Vegas, a Tesla cybertruck exploded into flames outside one of Donald Trump’s hotels. The driver died in the vehicle, while seven people nearby suffered minor injuries.
Two law enforcement sources familiar with the cases told NBC News that investigators are now looking into whether the two incidents could be linked via the military.
They said the Tesla driver, who has not yet been named, also had military experience.
While it is unclear whether the two men overlapped during their periods of service, it is a potentially important strand of the investigation, they added.
Kevin McMahill, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department’s Sheriff, said on Wednesday: ‘We are absolutely investigating any connectivity to what happened in New Orleans as well as other attacks that have been occurring around the world.’
According to a report from Denver7, the two men served at the same military base, although this has not been confirmed by any official channel.
What do we know about the victims in New Orleans?
While authorities have not released the names of the victims, at least four of those killed have been identified by family members or other associates.
Nicole Perez
Nicole Perez, 28, was newly promoted, planning to move into a new apartment and was teaching her 4-year-old son to read before she was killed on Wednesday morning, Kimberly Usher, her boss, told Reuters.
Ms Usher, who owns the New Orleans-area deli where Nicole worked, recalled how she would sometimes bring her son to work and play spelling games with him. She described Nicole as a hard-working mother and a dedicated employee.
‘She was just getting a new apartment, so her and her son were about to start their new life,’ Ms Usher said. ‘And now that’s no more.’
Tiger Bech
Tiger Bech, 27, a native of nearby Lafayette, Louisiana, and a Princeton University graduate, was killed on Wednesday morning, according to Marty Cannon, the principal at the high school Bech attended. Cannon said he found out about Bech’s death through his network of mutual friends and associates.
Cannon described Bech, who played football at Princeton, as an uncommon intellect and athlete.
‘I’ve seen a lot of great athletes, but there are things that Tiger could do on the football field that I never saw anyone else do,’ Mr Cannon said.
‘He was just a guy of tremendous depth as well. He was smart, he was an intellectual, just an impressive guy.’
Bech, who worked in finance in New York, was in town for the holidays, Mr Cannon said.
Nikyra Dedeaux
Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, an aspiring nurse from Mississippi, was among those killed in the ramming attack, according to the Times-Picayune newspaper.
The teenager was set to begin a nursing program later in January at Blue Cliff College and was in New Orleans celebrating the New Year with a cousin and a friend, the newspaper said, citing associates of the victim.
Melissa Dedeaux, who the Times-Picayune identified as Nikyra Dedeaux’s mother, appeared to confirm her daughter’s death in a widely shared Facebook post on Wednesday.
‘When your parents say don’t go anywhere please listen to them,’ Dedeaux wrote. ‘My baby is gone y’all. my baby is gone she is no longer with us.’
Attempts to contact the elder Dedeaux and confirm her relationship to Nikyra Dedeaux on Wednesday evening were not immediately successful.
Reggie Hunter
Reggie Hunter, 37, a father of two from Baton Rouge, was among those killed, the Times-Picayune reported, citing a cousin of the victim.
The newspaper reported that Mr Hunter, a warehouse manager, took pride in the academic achievements of his eldest son, who was of school age, and he enjoyed working out with friends and family.
Independent attempts to contact Hunter’s cousin, Shirell Jackson, were not immediately successful.
What is Islamic State and how is it implicated in the New Orleans attack?
Jabbar was flying an Islamic State flag during the rampage and US President Joe Biden said the FBI reported to him that Jabbar had posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by the terror group.
Though largely crushed by a U.S.-led coalition several years ago, IS has managed some major attacks while seeking to rebuild.
They include an assault on a Russian concert hall in March 2024, killing at least 143 people, and two explosions that killed nearly 100 people in the Iranian city of Kerman in January.
It also claimed responsibility for an assault by suicide attackers on a mosque in Oman last year, killing at least nine people.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that Islamic State will try to re-establish capabilities in Syria after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad but said that the United States is determined not to let that happen.
Aside from its bloody operations in the Middle East, Islamic State has also inspired lone wolf attacks in the West.
In August 2024 authorities said that a 19-year-old Austrian suspected of masterminding a planned attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna had vowed allegiance to the leader of Islamic State.
The US National Counterterrorism Center has said that the threat posed by IS and militant group al Qaeda ‘is at a low point with the suppression of the most dangerous elements’.
But it went on to warn that half of IS’s branches are now active in insurgencies across Africa and ‘may be poised for further expansion’.
It said the group had lost three overall leaders and at least 13 other senior operatives in Iraq and Syria since early 2022 ‘contributing to a loss of expertise and a decline in IS attacks in the Middle East’.
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