What we know about Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Orleans attack

The suspect in a deadly attack on New Year’s revelers in New Orleans has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S.-born citizen and U.S. Army veteran from Texas, according to the FBI.

A senior official told ABC News that authorities currently believe Jabbar was radicalized in the last few years — and that radicalization may have been exacerbated by the Israel-Hamas war.

At least 15 people were killed and over two dozen injured after a man drove a Ford pickup truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street at a high rate of speed early Wednesday, multiple law enforcement sources and Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter told ABC News.

Authorities are working to determine whether the deceased suspect had any affiliation with terrorist organizations after an ISIS flag was found on a pole on the truck’s trailer hitch.

Addressing the nation from Camp David on Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden said, “The FBI also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that he’s inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.”

“The ISIS flag was found in his vehicle, which he rented to conduct this attack,” Biden said. “Possible explosives were found in the vehicle as well, and more explosives were found nearby.”

However, he cautioned, “The situation is very fluid and the investigation is in its preliminary stage.”

‘Hell-bent’ on creating carnage

After barreling through the crowd over a three-block stretch, the suspect allegedly got out of the truck wielding an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told ABC News.

Officers returned fire, killing the suspect, police said. At least two police officers were shot and wounded, authorities said.

“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon.

She said the driver was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

Weapons and potential IEDs were located in the suspect’s vehicle and other potential IEDs were located in the French Quarter, according to the FBI, which is leading the investigation. As of now, two IEDs have been found and rendered safe, the FBI said.

Investigators found homemade pipe bombs at the scene of the Bourbon Street attack, law enforcement sources told ABC News. The crude devices contained coils and nails, the sources said. Authorities also found a grenade, which is among the items tested for viability, sources said.

In addition to the assault rifle, Jabbar was allegedly armed with a handgun, sources with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the horrific incident as a “terrorist attack” and the FBI said it was being investigated as an act of terror.

Not believed to have acted alone

The suspect is not believed to be “solely responsible” for the attack, according to the FBI, which said it is pursuing leads to identify any of his associates.

“There are other potential suspects out there, as well,” said New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno on Wednesday. “So we do have really a multi-agency effort at this point to identify anyone else who may have had anything to do with this particular incident and make sure that justice does prevail and that these individuals are caught and targeted immediately.”

New Orleans police have reviewed surveillance video that appears to show several people planting potential explosive devices in advance of the vehicle ramming, leading the FBI to conclude the driver of the pickup truck did not act alone in the attack, law enforcement sources told ABC News early Wednesday.

Individuals appearing in one such video relating to the area where potential explosive devices were thought to have been planted are being considered unrelated passersby as of Wednesday evening, federal authorities said, though the investigation remains ongoing.

Investigators are urgently working to identify any individuals appearing on camera in potentially related areas and will take any potential persons of interest into custody, sources said.

“It’s all hands on deck to find anyone else who had any type of involvement on this,” Moreno said.

In his remarks on Wednesday evening, Biden confirmed that the law enforcement community was continuing to investigate any “connections, associations or co-conspirators.”

Additionally, Biden said, authorities were looking into any possible connection with the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

“Thus far there is nothing to report on that score,” Biden said, adding that law enforcement was working to “ensure that there is no remaining threat to the American people.”

The president added that, regardless of the suspect’s actions or intent, “the spirit of our New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated.”

Served in the Army

Jabbar served in human resources and information technology roles in the Army from 2007 to 2015, during which he deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, an Army spokesperson confirmed to ABC News. He continued as an IT specialist in the Army Reserve from 2015 to 2020, the spokesperson said. His listed jobs were not direct combat roles.

Jabbar is believed to have been discharged honorably from the Army, though investigators are still looking into his military record, the FBI said.

The suspect had earlier enlisted in the Navy, in August 2024, though he never went to boot camp and was discharged from the delayed entry program one month later, according to a Navy spokesperson.

In a YouTube video posted in 2020, Jabbar says he was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, and spent a decade working in the U.S. military before becoming a Realtor in the Houston area. His years in the military were spent working as a human resources and IT specialist, Jabbar says in the video, which has since been removed from YouTube.

The suspect has been living in the Houston area, according to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Authorities with the FBI and Harris County Sheriff’s Office were “conducting law enforcement activity” in an area of north Houston in connection with the New Orleans attack, FBI Houston said Wednesday afternoon.

Used Turo to rent truck used in attack

The truck used in the attack had a Texas license plate, according to Carter.

The vehicle appeared to be a Ford F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle. It appears the truck was rented through the Turo app — a carsharing company, according to Rodrigo Diaz, the owner of the truck.

Diaz told ABC News he rented the truck to an individual through the app and is currently talking to the FBI. He declined further comment.

Diaz’s wife, Dora Diaz, told ABC News that she and her husband are devastated by the incident.

“My husband rents cars through the Turo app. I can’t tell you anything else. I’m here with my kids, and this is devastating,” Dora Diaz said.

ABC News has reached out to Turo.

The suspect rented the truck on Monday, according to Patrick.

“[We] have learned he was driving the rented truck in Houston before heading to New Orleans,” Patrick said.

ABC News’ Matt Seyler contributed to this report.