His profile is becoming clearer. The FBI revealed the man's identity who rushed his car into the crowd in the tourist French Quarter of New Orleans (Louisiana), Wednesday January 1, leaving at least 15 dead and around thirty injured, according to a provisional assessment.
The investigation continues to find possible accomplices of Shamsud-Din Jabbarwhich according to the authorities would not be “not the only one responsible”. Here is what we know about the profile of the driver of the ram car, killed in a shootout with the police.
A real estate agent from Texas
Aged 42, the perpetrator was identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a “US national from Texas”according to an FBI press release. He earned a degree in computer science at Georgia State University, a university spokesperson told AFP. Shamsud-Din Jabbar spent two years studying there, between 2015 and 2017, according to the same source.
In a video dating from 2020 seen by AFP and which was removed from social media, he says he was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas. He says he now lives in Houston, another city in Texas, and praises his merits as a “property manager”. “What really sets me apart from other agents is my ability to be a tough negotiator”he assures the camera.
An eight-year U.S. Army veteran
Posted in front of a screen on which the word “Discipline” appears large, Shamsud-Din Jabbar claims in this same video to have worked for the army in the sectors of “human resources” and IT. He declares having “learned” in the ranks of the army “what it means to be responsive and take everything seriously (…) to make sure things go smoothly”.
The American Department of Defense corroborates the mention of this military past, which spans almost eight years: the attacker joined the army from 2007 to 2015, including a deployment in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, where he finished with the rank of master sergeant. Shamsud-Din Jabbar was also a reservist from 2015 to 2020. The ministry adds that he mainly worked as an information technology specialist. The FBI agent Alethea Dunca clarified during a press conference that he had left the army in a manner “honorable”.
Two entries appear on his criminal record
The criminal record of Shamsud-Din Jabbar reports two convictions, also announced the FBI in front of the press. According to the New York Times, the first concerns a theft in 2002, the second a driving with an invalid license in 2005. These two minor offenses therefore took place before his time in the army. He was never brought to justice for violent acts. The American daily reports that on his X account, since deleted, the man had repeatedly expressed an interest in firearms. The messages dated from November and December, again according to the New York Times.
A father of three who complained of financial difficulties
The American daily also reports that the attacker said he was facing significant financial difficulties: in a letter sent in January 2022 to the lawyer of his wife with whom he was divorcing, he wrote that he had lost $28,000 ( around 27,000 euros) in his agency and offered to sell their house and share the proceeds of the sale. He lamented having contracted a debt of 16,000 dollars (around 15,000 euros) on his credit card. However, he declared the same year that he worked in an accounting firm and was paid around 120,000 dollars (around 116,000 euros) per year, again according to the New York Times.
The newspaper also mentions the existence of three children: Shamsud-Din Jabbar had two daughters with his first wife, from whom he separated in 2012, and a son with his second partner, from whom he was also separated. The eldest is 20 years old, the second 15 years old and the last 6 years old, details the media.
A man 'inspired' by the Islamic State group with a 'desire to kill'
The brother of the attacker, Abdur Jabbar, 24, specified in the columns of New York Times what Shamsud-Din Jabbar had converted to Islam at a young age, emphasizing what “what he did does not represent Islam” and he sees “rather a form of radicalization”. He speaks of his brother as“a sweetheart, a nice guy, a friend, very intelligent, caring”. Chris Pousson, an air force veteran who said he attended the same middle and high school as the driver of the ram car, told the daily that Shamsud-Din Jabbar had increasingly become expressed about his Muslim faith since 2015, upon returning from his military service.
He notably mentions numerous publications on his Facebook page from this period. “It was never Muslim extremist stuff, and he never threatened violence, but you could see he became really passionate”declared to New York Times the one who considered Shamsud-Din Jabbar as a “calm and reserved person”. The comments of the attacker's relatives on his potential radicalization seem to go in the same direction as those of the authorities.
The FBI reported in a statement that“a flag [du groupe jihadiste] “Islamic State was in his vehicle” and that two homemade explosive devices found in the car and in the neighborhood had been defused. US President Joe Biden also stressed in a speech Wednesday evening that Shamsud-Din Jabbar had “posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by [le groupe] Islamic State” and that it was inhabited by a “desire to kill”. Investigators announced they were working “to determine the individual's possible associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations”.
