CCTV footage emerged showing New Orleans terrorist He loads his truck bearing an ISIS flag with weapons and explosives.
US Army veteran Shamsuddin Jabbar was photographed outside his rented AirBnB just hours before he plowed his pickup truck into a crowd of New Year's Day revelers.
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Footage obtained by CNN shows Jabbar preparing for the deadly attack that rocked New Orleans on New Year's Day.
Just a few hours before the attack, Jabbar could be seen moving around the same pickup truck he used to carry out the terrorist attack.
He can then be seen loading what appear to be weapons and explosives into the back of a Ford F-150.
The car was parked outside the AirBnB he was renting, which was located just two miles from the Bourbon Street locations where the attack was carried out.
It is understood that Jabbar picked up the Ford pickup truck on December 30 from Houston using a car-sharing app called Turo.
The car was spotted in Baytown, Texas, on New Year's Eve, heading towards New Orleans.
Just a few hours later, the truck reappeared in the city's bustling French Quarter, which was packed with people celebrating the start of 2025.
Then at about 3:15 a.m. Wednesday, the horrific attack began as Jabbar appeared to drive down Canal Street before turning onto Bourbon Street.
The horrific footage shows the driver swerving around the barriers that were set up to prevent cars from passing before he accelerated and collided with dozens of people.
Police believe Jabbar deliberately rammed the revelers with the white truck while trying to “run over as many people as possible.”
He was killed during a heated exchange of gunfire with policemen after the attack.
The FBI revealed that former Sergeant Jabbar, who was once deployed to Afghanistan, pledged allegiance to ISIS before the summer.
Investigators also found a large ISIS flag taped to the back of the pickup truck.
Hours before the attack, Jabbar posted five videos on social media declaring his support for ISIS while traveling from Houston to New Orleans on the evening of December 31.
In the first video, Jabbar, 42, explained how he initially planned to call his family and his ex-wife to “celebrate” with plans to kill them both.
However, he later revealed that he focused his attack because he wanted news headlines to focus on “the war between believers and unbelievers,” said Christopher Raya, deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division.
The FBI stated that Jabbar was “100% inspired by ISIS.”
Investigators are still looking into Jabbar's past and the reason that pushed this US Army veteran to extremism.
Jabbar was a US Army veteran who served for more than 10 years, including serving in Afghanistan in 2009.
He studied IT, recently held a six-figure job and converted to Islam after being raised Christian.
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A man named Abdul-Jabbar in Beaumont, Texas, told the New York Times that he was the suspect's brother.
He described Jabbar as “a true sweetheart, a nice guy, a friend, really smart, caring.”
He added that Jaber converted to Islam at an early age, but “what he did does not represent Islam.
“This is a kind of extremism, not religion.”
“We believe he was honorably discharged, but we're working through this process, finding out all this information,” FBI Alethea Duncan said.
A US Army spokesperson confirmed to ABC that Jabbar served in human resources and information technology roles from 2007 to 2015 in the Army, but was not involved in direct combat.
He then continued his work as an information technology specialist in the Army Reserve from 2015 to 2020, leaving with the rank of staff sergeant, the spokesman said.
A Navy spokesman said that Jabbar joined the Navy in August 2024, five months before the attack, but he did not go to training camp and was discharged from the program a month later.
Former Army Chief Rich Groen, who commanded Jabbar during his service in Afghanistan, said he was a “professional soldier.”
“Shamsuddin Jabbar served under my command during our deployment to Afghanistan,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
“He was a great soldier, showing discipline and dedication. He worked calmly and professionally in the S1 store and as a postal clerk, ensuring that the little things that kept us all connected to home were done with care and precision.”
Gruen said that he remained in a state of “total disbelief” after the tragic attack that occurred in New Orleans, which led to the death of 15 people and the injury of dozens of others.
“To believe that the same person who embodied calm professionalism could harbor so much hatred, leading to such unspeakable atrocities, is incomprehensible and heartbreaking,” he said.
“As I process the devastating events that took place in New Orleans, I am in complete disbelief,” the former Army chief added.
The New York Times reported that Jabbar was arrested twice: once in Katy, Texas, for theft in 2002, and once in 2005 for driving with an invalid license.
In both cases, the court sentenced him to a fine of $100.
The New York Post reported that Jabba lived in a dilapidated trailer park on the outskirts of Houston where he tended sheep and goats in the yard.
A neighbour, François Venegas, described Jabbar as a “simple person” who was aloof but said they would occasionally exchange words in the street.
Venegas said:[He was] So quiet…just walking, [he would say] “Hi,” “Hello,” and that was it.”
Pictures of the place where he is believed to have lived show a static, filthy house surrounded by filthy animal cages.
According to the newspaper, geese, chickens, goats and sheep were roaming freely in the yard of Jabbar’s house when they visited.
The police later cordoned off the site.
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