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Houston Veteran Identified as Suspect in New Orleans Terror Attack, Killing 15

Updated
Jan 2, 2025 8:11 PM
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The FBI has named Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Army soldier from Houston, as the driver who carried out the terrible New Year's terror attack in New Orleans. Nineteen people were killed and many more were hurt when Jabbar crashed a rented pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning.

Witnesses said the attack at 3:15 a.m. was crazy and out of the ordinary. Lance McCurley, who saw what happened, said, "People just started running in every direction."

Jabbar was a father who lived in north Harris County, Texas, and had been divorced twice. He was killed in a shootout with police soon after the attack. During the episode, he also shot and hurt two police officers. The FBI said that Jabbar had made videos before the attack in which he swore loyalty to ISIS, and they also found an ISIS flag in his car.

The police stated that the truck was rented through the Turo car-sharing service. Now, investigators are looking at Jabbar's online activities and any possible ties to ISIS to complete the puzzle.

The attack happened less than a mile from the Sugar Bowl game that was supposed to happen, so it had to be canceled for safety reasons. As investigations continue, people in Houston and New Orleans are dealing with grief and open questions about how Jabbar became radicalized and if there were any warning signs that were missed.

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