On January 1st, at 3:15 am central time, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street. After crashing, he exited the vehicle and began firing at law enforcement. The law enforcement at the scene fired back, and shot and killed Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar.
Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar was a U.S. citizen from Texas. He was 42 years old, an army veteran, and Muslim. The vehicle he used for the attack was a Ford pickup truck that, according to the FBI’s official statement, seems to have been rented.
The attack killed about 14 people and injured dozens of others. Two of them were law enforcement officers that were injured in the shoot-out that followed the original attack. A New Orleans councilman visited the law enforcement afterwards and said they were in stable condition.
After investigating the vehicle, law enforcement found an ISIS flag. Former President Joe Biden said the attack was “inspired by” the Islamic State terrorist organization. The FBI, in their official statement, said “the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations”.
They also discovered weapons, and a potential IED in the vehicle. There were other potential IEDs found inside coolers in the French Quarter. After discovering the potential IEDs, streets in the French Quarter were blocked off for investigation.
Before the attack, Jabbar had made videos saying that he had joined ISIS. CNN stated that “the White House has seen no evidence of foreign direction or involvement in the attack”.
The Sugar Bowl, New Orleans’ annual college football bowl game that takes place in the city’s Superdome, was delayed for a day for the investigation, and to ensure that there were no IEDs placed in the area.
The FBI, during their investigation, looked through Jabbar’s electronics and found online searches such as how to access a balcony on Bourbon Street, information about Mardi Gras, and more. They also found bomb-making materials at his short-term rental home on Mandeville Street and in Jabbar’s home on Crescent Peak Drive in Houston, Texas.
On January 1, at 5:18 a.m. central time, the New Orleans Fire Department responded to a fire at the Mandeville Street location after the attack on Bourbon Street. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) determined Jabbar was there alone the entire time and left at 12:15 am. The ATF determined that “Jabbar set a small fire in the hallway and strategically placed accelerants throughout the house in his effort to destroy it and other evidence of his crime.” The fire did not burn the evidence as he planned, as it extinguished before spreading to other rooms.
The FBI also investigated the IEDs more in detail. The IED was mostly basic, but the “abnormality” is that Jabbar used an explosive material that is set off by a detonator. Detonators are not easily accessible to the average person, so usually homemade bombs are made with materials that are set off by a flame. Since Jabbar didn’t have a detonator, he planned to use a match to set the explosives off.
The FBI also discovered that Jabbar traveled to Cairo, Egypt from June 22 to July 3 in 2023. He then flew to Ontario, Canada on July 10 and came back to America July 13. They are continuing to investigate “where he went, who he met with, and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here in New Orleans.”
Jabbar visited New Orleans multiple times within the past year. On November 10, 2024, he took a train from Houston, Texas to New Orleans. That evening, he went back to Texas by bus. The FBI stated that “while in the city, Jabbar looked at an apartment for rent on Orleans Street…he applied to rent the apartment but later told the landlord he changed his mind.”
They are still unsure exactly what relations Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar had with ISIS, or exactly what caused him to perform the attack. The FBI is continuing the investigation and are continuing to investigate the thousands of tips they have been receiving. The last update they released was on January 14, 2025. If you want any more information on the topic, visit fbi.gov.
