The FBI has identified a U.S. Army veteran from Houston as the man who drove a truck at high speeds through the French Quarter in New Orleans early Wednesday morning, killing 15 and injuring dozens more.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, was shot and killed at the scene of the attack, after jumping out of the vehicle with a rifle and firing several shots at survivors and law enforcement.
According to law enforcement, Jabbar was dressed in full military gear, and had affixed an ISIS flag to the back of the truck, which he had rented.
Authorities are investigating the possibility that Jabbar did not act alone.
“The FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliation to the terrorist organization,” New Orleans FBI Special Agent Alethea Duncan told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
“We’re aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates,” Duncan said. “That’s why we need the public’s help.”
What we know now is, Jabbar was born in Beaumont, Texas, in the Houston metro area, was a 2017 graduate of Georgia State University, with a degree in computer information systems, and most recently was a real estate agent.
In a YouTube video for one of his real estate businesses posted in 2021, Jabbar said he had served 10 years in the military, where he served an information specialist.
His time in the Army, he said in the video, is “where I learned the meaning of great service and what it means to be responsive and take everything seriously, dotting i’s and crossing t’s, to make sure that things go off without a hitch.”
A woman who identified herself as Jabbar’s sister-in-law told NBC News that relatives in Texas were in shock when they heard the news.
“It don’t make no sense,” she said. “He’s the nicest person I’ve ever known.”
“I really don’t know what happened,” she added. “He was a good man. He takes care of his children and everything.”
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Chris Graham
