FBI says New Orleans attack suspect researched German Christmas market rampage
SHREVEPORT, La. — The FBI said the man behind the New Year's Day pickup truck attack in New Orleans researched how to access a balcony on the city's famed Bourbon Street and looked for information about a similar incident at a Christmas market in Germany.
In a statement released Tuesday, the FBI said an initial review of Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, and his "electronics" showed that the man conducted extensive online research into New Orleans before the deadly rampage. Jabbar had also looked up how to access a balcony on Bourbon Street, information about Mardi Gras, and several shootings that occurred in the city, "as late as mid-November," according to the FBI.
"Just hours before the attack on Bourbon Street, he also searched for information about the car that rammed into innocent victims in a Christmas market in Germany just ten days before," the FBI added.
On Dec. 20, 2024, a man driving a rented SUV plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market in east-central Germany, killing six people and injuring more than 200 others. Police arrested a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who officials said has a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric and sympathy for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Early on New Year's Day, Jabbar — who was identified as an Army veteran and U.S.-born citizen from Texas — was captured on surveillance footage placing homemade bombs hidden in coolers at two sites on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, authorities said. The bombs did not detonate.
Jabbar then drove a speeding pickup truck around a police barricade and slammed into a crowd on Bourbon Street before he died in a shootout with law enforcement, according to authorities. Fourteen people were killed in the attack and at least 57 others were injured, the FBI said Tuesday.
Authorities are still working to uncover Jabbar's motivation in the attack, which officials have said was inspired by the Islamic State militant group, known as ISIS.
"The FBI, along with our partners, continue to work around the clock to determine what motivated Shamsud-Din Jabbar to drive his truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street," the agency said in the statement. "Thanks to the overwhelming response from the public, the FBI is closer to getting answers for those families who lost loved ones and the other victims of the New Year’s Day attack."
FBI reveals more details of suspect's activity before New Orleans attack
Jabbar is believed to have acted alone in what the FBI has called a premeditated "act of terrorism." In the hours prior to the attack, the FBI said Jabbar posted five videos on an online platform "proclaiming his support for ISIS."
On Tuesday, the FBI said further evidence obtained in the investigation suggests that Jabbar "became a more devout Muslim in 2022."
"During this time, Jabbar began isolating himself from society," the FBI added. "Around the spring of 2024, Jabbar began following extremist views."
Earlier this month, the FBI provided a brief timeline of Jabbar's activity in the months leading up to the attack, during which he visited New Orleans at least twice in October and November 2024.
Jabbar stayed at a rental home in New Orleans beginning Oct. 30, 2024, according to Lyonel Myrthil, FBI special agent in charge of the New Orleans field office. He remained in the city for at least two days during that visit.
Investigators believe Jabbar may have been planning his attack during that visit, where he wore "smart glasses" to record his bicycle tour of the French Quarter.
He visited New Orleans again on Nov. 10, 2024, the FBI said Tuesday. Jabbar took a train from Houston — where he resided at the time of the attack — to New Orleans but returned that evening on a bus.
While visiting the city, Jabbar looked at an apartment that was available for rent on Orleans Street, just blocks away from where the attack occurred, according to the FBI. Days after, he applied to rent the apartment but later told the landlord "he changed his mind," the FBI said.
Contributing: John Bacon and Joey Garrison, Paste BN; Reuters