What We Know About Suspect in Deadly New Orleans Attack as New Details Emerge

Mar. 15, 2025

The French Quarter, near Bourbon Street is blocked off late morning with a heavy police and FBI presence after a Terrorist attack early in the morning in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 1, 2025.Photo:EMILY KASK/AFP via Getty

EMILY KASK/AFP via Getty

A Texas man has been named as the suspect in thedeadly New Orleans attackon New Year’s Day, which haskilled at least 15 people.

“At approximately 3:15 a.m. CST, an individual drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans,” the FBI said in astatement. “After hitting the crowd, he exited the vehicle and fired upon local law enforcement. Law enforcement returned fire, and the subject was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

“He was driving a Ford pickup truck, which appears to have been rented, and we are working to confirm how the subject came into possession of the vehicle,” the FBI continued.

After he crashed the vehicle, Jabbar was involved in a police shootout which lefttwo officers injured, but in stable condition. The New Orleans Police Department previously confirmed to PEOPLE that the driver died in the exchange.

As details continue to emerge about Jabbar and the attack, here’s what we know so far.

Police cordon off the intersection of Canal Street and Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 1, 2025.MATTHEW HINTON/AFP via Getty

MATTHEW HINTON/AFP via Getty

According to multiple U.S. defense officials, Jabbar was a U.S. Army veteran who served on active duty from the mid-2000s to 2015, reportedNBC NewsandCNN. While on active duty, he was a human resources specialist and information technology specialist, according to CNN.

He was then in the Army Reserves until 2020, per the outlets.

While on active duty in 2009, Jabbar was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, where he served as an administrative clerk before he was discharged in 2020 as a staff sergeant, officials said, reported NBC News.

“We believe he was honorably discharged, but we are working through this process, figuring out all this information,” said Alethea Duncan, an assistant FBI special agent, during a Wednesday press conference, according to CNN.

Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies work the scene on Bourbon Street after at least ten people were killed when a person allegedly drove into the crowd in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day on January 1, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.Michael DeMocker/Getty

Michael DeMocker/Getty

FBI investigators arrive at the scene where the white Ford F-150 pickup truck that crashed into a work lift after allegedly driving into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in the French Quarter of New Orleans.MATTHEW HINTON/AFP via Getty

Jabbar was married twice, according to NBC News, which reported that his first divorce occurred in 2012, while a second petition for divorce was filed in 2021 and finalized the following year.

Texas records show that Jabbar was previously charged with misdemeanor theft in 2002 and for driving with an invalid license in 2005, according to theNew York Times.

During Wednesday’s press conference, authorities said they don’t believe that Jabbar was “solely responsible” for the attack and they, along with the FBI, are asking for the public’s help with any information.

The FBI also confirmed the presence of an apparent ISIS flag in the Ford pickup truck used in the attack and are “working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,” thenews releasesaid.

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The federal agency went on to note that “weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle” and that additional potential IEDs were found in the French Quarter.

“The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe,” authorities said in the release.

Citing multiple officials briefed on the investigation, CNN reported that Jabar made a number of video recordings before the attack in which he reportedly talked about ISIS and his divorce.

source: people.com