By Brian Thévenot
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – A U.S. Army veteran flying an ISIS flag from his truck dodged makeshift barriers and crashed into New Orleans’ busy French Quarter on New Year’s Day, killing 15 people in an attack that, according to authorities, could have been carried out with the help of others.
The suspect, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas who once served in Afghanistan, was killed in a shootout with police after charging into the crowd.
The attack injured about 30 other people, including two police officers wounded by gunfire from the suspect. It took place around 3:15 am (0915 GMT) near the intersection of Canal and Bourbon streets, a historic tourist destination known for its music and bars where crowds celebrated the New Year.
Police and political leaders vowed to capture any accomplices.
Police found weapons and a possible explosive device in the vehicle, while two possible explosive devices were found in the French Quarter and taken to safety, the FBI said.
Faced with the perceived danger, officials postponed the Sugar Bowl, a classic college football game played in New Orleans each year on New Year’s Day. The Notre Dame-Georgia game was postponed until Thursday afternoon as police scoured parts of the city for possible explosive devices and converged on neighborhoods for clues.
The city will also host the NFL Super Bowl on February 9.
An ISIS flag was attached to a flagpole protruding from the trailer hitch of the rental vehicle, prompting an investigation into possible ties to terrorist organizations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.
“We do not believe Jabbar is solely responsible. We are aggressively pursuing all leads, including those from his known associates,” FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan told reporters, adding that investigators were looking into a ” series of suspects. “
The victims included the mother of a 4-year-old boy 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 her home for the holidays. , and a young man of 18 years. old wannabe nurse from Mississippi.
BIDEN CONDEMNS ATTACK
US President Joe Biden condemned what he called a “despicable” act and said investigators were looking into whether there could be a link to the fire of a Tesla truck (NASDAQ 🙂 outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Until At the time, there was no evidence linking the two events, Biden said.
“The FBI also informed me that just hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that it was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill,” Biden said of the New Orleans suspect.
CNN, citing officials briefed on the investigation, said the suspect recorded videos in which he mentioned dreams about joining ISIS and contemplated killing his family after a divorce.
ISIS – also called the Islamic State or ISIL – is a Muslim militant group that once imposed a reign of terror on millions of people in Iraq and Syria until it collapsed following a sustained military campaign by a US-led coalition.
Even as it has weakened on the ground, ISIS has continued to recruit sympathizers online, experts say.
Public records showed Jabbar worked in real estate in Houston. In a promotional video released four years ago, Jabbar described himself as born and raised in Beaumont, a city about 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of Houston, and said he spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as a military specialist. IT and human resources.
Jabbar was in the regular Army from March 2007 to January 2015 and then in the Army Reserve from January 2015 to July 2020, an Army spokesman said. He was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010 and held the rank of sergeant major at the end of the service.
‘SCREAMS AND DEBRIS’
Mike and Kimberly Strickland of Mobile, Alabama, said they were in New Orleans for a bluegrass concert and were returning to their hotel just 60 feet (yards) from where the truck hit some pedestrians.
“There were people everywhere,” Kimberly Strickland said in an interview. “You just heard this screeching and the engine revving and this huge, loud impact and then people screaming and debris, just metal, the sound of metal and bodies crunching.”
About 400 officers were on duty in the French Quarter at the time of the incident, including some who had set up a makeshift barrier to prevent anyone from driving into the pedestrian zone, police said.
In response to vehicle attacks on pedestrian malls around the world, New Orleans was in the process of removing and replacing steel barriers known as bollards that restrict vehicle traffic in the Bourbon Street area.
Construction was to be completed in time for the Super Bowl. As a temporary measure, police vehicles and officers attempted to set up a barrier, Kirkpatrick said.
“We did indeed have a plan, but the terrorist defeated it,” Kirkpatrick said.