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FBI probes 'terrorist' links in New Orleans truck-ramming that killed 15
A US army veteran with an Islamic State (IS) flag and “hellbent” on carnage steered a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year revelers in New Orleans on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, officials said.
The FBI identified the attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas. He appeared to have been a real estate agent working in Houston and had served as an IT specialist in the military, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Officials said they were searching for accomplices but gave few details.
Police Supt Anne Kirkpatrick described Jabbar as a “terrorist,” and the FBI said “an Isis flag was located in the vehicle,” using another name for the IS jihadist group.
US president Joe Biden, describing the attack as “despicable,” said Jabbar had posted videos online hours before “indicating that he was inspired by Isis.”
Biden also said that law enforcement agencies were probing any possible links between the attack and the explosion later on Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by US president-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas that killed one person, though he cautioned that none had been found so far.
Officials said a manhunt was under way, with FBI agent Alethea Duncan warning that authorities “do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible.”
Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, said: “We’re hunting some bad people down.”
The FBI said it was conducting search warrants in New Orleans “and other states.” Earlier, the bureau’s field office in Houston said it was conducting activity “related” to the New Orleans attack.
An FBI spokesperson told AFP that 15 people had been killed in the attack, citing the New Orleans coroner’s office.
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US president Joe Biden said that “thus far, there’s nothing” linking the New Orleans attack with the Las Vegas explosion, which police described as an “isolated” incident.
The vehicles in the two attacks were both rented through the popular car-sharing app Turo. The sheriff in Las Vegas said that was a “coincidence … that we have to continue to look in to.”
A spokesperson for the app, used by millions of people in the US, said they were working with law enforcement, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“We do not believe that either renter … had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat,” the spokesperson told AFP.
Police said the attack began about 3.15am (09.15am GMT) near Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter, packed with people celebrating the start of 2025.
The suspect drove a white Ford F-150 electric pickup into a group of pedestrians, then exited and was killed in a shootout with police – two of whom were injured. Two homemade bombs were found and neutralised, the FBI said.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” Police Supt Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters. Driving at “very high speed” and in a “very intentional” manner, “he was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The Pentagon said the attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, had served in the US army as a human resources specialist and an IT specialist from 2007 to 2015, and then in the army reserve until 2020. He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 until January 2010, an army spokesperson said.
FBI probes 'terrorist' links in New Orleans truck-ramming that killed 15
A US army veteran with an Islamic State (IS) flag and “hellbent” on carnage steered a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year revelers in New Orleans on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, officials said.
The FBI identified the attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas. He appeared to have been a real estate agent working in Houston and had served as an IT specialist in the military, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Officials said they were searching for accomplices but gave few details.
Police Supt Anne Kirkpatrick described Jabbar as a “terrorist,” and the FBI said “an Isis flag was located in the vehicle,” using another name for the IS jihadist group.
US president Joe Biden, describing the attack as “despicable,” said Jabbar had posted videos online hours before “indicating that he was inspired by Isis.”
Biden also said that law enforcement agencies were probing any possible links between the attack and the explosion later on Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by US president-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas that killed one person, though he cautioned that none had been found so far.
Officials said a manhunt was under way, with FBI agent Alethea Duncan warning that authorities “do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible.”
Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, said: “We’re hunting some bad people down.”
The FBI said it was conducting search warrants in New Orleans “and other states.” Earlier, the bureau’s field office in Houston said it was conducting activity “related” to the New Orleans attack.
An FBI spokesperson told AFP that 15 people had been killed in the attack, citing the New Orleans coroner’s office.
