In an instant, the cheers of joy and happiness turned into screams of horror as a truck rammed into the crowd. On New Year’s Day, at 3:15 a.m, 35 people were injured and 14 killed due to the attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The driver responsible was 42-year-old, Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
Jabbar continued down Bourbon Street before crashing into a crane between Bienville and Conti Street. Exiting the vehicle, he then proceeded to open fire, engaging in a shootout with the officers, resulting in the injuries of two officers. Jabbar himself was pronounced deceased on the spot.
The FBI declared this a terrorist attack as they pieced together the events that led up to this tragedy. On January 1 between 1:29 a.m. and 3:02 a.m., a series of videos were posted to Facebook. In those videos, Jabbar discussed the dreams that inspired him to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIS, and revealed his initial plans of killing his family. However, his focus was on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” which changed his course of action.
This attack was planned months ahead, as Jabbar had visited New Orleans on Oct. 31 and Nov. 10 of 2024. Before his trips, Jabbar was spotted at multiple gun stores in Texas, where he purchased an ice chest as well as renting a truck in Gonzales on Dec. 31, 2024. During his October trip, Jabbar rode around the French Quarter on a bike recording videos using a pair of Meta glasses to most likely survey the surrounding areas.
Following on Dec. 31 2024, around 10:02 p.m., Jabbar was seen unloading his truck and checking into an Airbnb rental home. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives believed that Jabbar’s Airbnb was set on fire around 12:17 p.m. before Jabbar made his way to Bourbon Street. The fire was first lit in the hallways and spread to other hallways. It was believed to be an attempt at destroying evidence.
Around 1:53 a.m., Jabbar was seen placing an ice chest containing an improvised explosive device, IED, at Bourbon and St. Peters Street. The second IED was placed around 2:20 at Bourbon and Toulouse Street. These devices were deactivated when discovered by authorities.
Many families are suffering in pain from the losses caused by this attack. The youngest victim was merely 18 years old with the oldest being 63 years old and the remaining victims being in their 20s.
“First of all, I want to say that, I hope all of the families affected from the attack are recovering well and especially the ones that are grieving,” Michelle He answered after being interviewed. “I hope that the attack doesn’t affect them too much, even though it is very impactful to have a loved one die.”
Jiajun Shen, a sophomore at Mark Keppel, expressed that “[Authorities] could of prevented it but it’s obviously extremely unfortunate that they couldn’t and unfortunately we’re gonna have to learn from this. I guess I would blame city officials for not properly making sure that the pathway to attack was guarded. I think they should put more measures but beyond that …the blame doesn’t fall on anyone particularly besides [Jabbar].”
