Fifteen people were killed and at least 35 injured after a man, inspired by the Islamic State group, drove into large crowds in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, authorities have said.
At 03:15 local time on New Year’s Day, a Ford pick-up truck rammed into crowds gather on Bourbon Street in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter. CCTV footage shows a white, Ford F-150 Lightning vehicle driving onto the pavement to get around a police car before hitting pedestrians. Police described the act as “very intentional”, adding that the attacker – identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar – was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did”. He was also armed and fired on law enforcement, injuring two officers. He was then killed by police gunfire.
FBI A passport image of the suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
The FBI has named the assailant as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran and US citizen from Texas. A flag associated with the Islamic State (IS) group was found in the vehicle he was driving and the FBI said it was investigating what affiliations Jabbar may have had with terrorist groups. In an evening address, President Joe Biden said the FBI had briefed him on the attack. The suspect uploaded videos to social media “mere hours before the attack” indicating that he was inspired by IS and expressing a “desire to kill”, Biden said.
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