At least 15 people have been killed and dozens wounded after a man, identified by the FBI as a United States military veteran, ploughed a pick-up truck into a crowd of New Year’s revellers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, the United States.
The suspect, who has since been killed in a police shootout, has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US citizen from the state of Texas.
Who is the suspect?
The FBI identified the suspect as 42-year-old Jabbar, who served in the US military between 2007 and 2020. He also deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.
He graduated from Georgia State University in 2017 earning a degree in computer information systems.
The FBI said that an ISIS (ISIL) flag was located in the vehicle used in the attack. The bureau is trying to determine if Jabbar was associated with any “terrorist” organisations.
New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno said the suspect was dressed in full military gear and police had described his acts as intentional.
Court records show Jabbar faced a deteriorating financial situation in 2022 while separating from his then-wife. Jabbar said he was $27,000 behind on house payments, accumulated $16,000 in credit card debt and wanted to quickly finalise the divorce.
“I have exhausted all means of bringing the loan current other than a loan modification, leaving us no alternative but to sell the house or allow it to go into foreclosure,” he wrote in a January 2022 email to his now-ex-wife’s attorney.
He also worked with consulting firm Deloitte earning about $10,000 a month. In a statement, Deloitte said Jabbar had “served in a staff-level role” since being hired in 2021 and that the company was doing all it could to assist authorities.
The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of “terrorism” and said it does not believe the driver acted alone in the attack on one of the country’s top tourist destinations. However, the federal investigating body has not specified what evidence is being used to make that legal determination. (With Agency Report)
