New Orleans, January 2, 2025: Authorities have identified the suspect involved in the New Orleans vehicle ramming attack as 42-year-old Shamsuddin Jabbar, a Texas resident and U.S. citizen.
Jabbar previously worked as a real estate agent in Houston and served in the U.S. Army from 2007 to 2015 as a human resources and IT specialist. He was also deployed to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010 and remained a member of the Army Reserve until 2020, according to the Pentagon.
The FBI revealed that an ISIS flag was recovered from Jabbar’s vehicle, and investigations are ongoing to determine his links to extremist groups. Reports indicate that Jabbar was fatally shot by police during the incident.
U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the attack as “heinous,” noting that Jabbar had posted an online video just hours before the incident, suggesting his inspiration from ISIS. The President also confirmed that authorities are examining potential connections between this attack and a cyber truck explosion outside a Donald Trump hotel in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas police have described the explosion as a “separate incident.” However, both incidents involved vehicles rented through the car-sharing app Turo. Investigations into both attacks are ongoing.
