New Orleans death toll climbs, suspect identified and pipe bombs found in French Quarter

At least 15 people were killed and dozens were injured after a man barreled his truck down Bourbon Street in New Orleans during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.

The FBI is investigating the mass casualty attack as a potential “act of terrorism.” Mayor LaToya Cantrell and New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick have called the incident an intentional attack.

The perpetrator, who has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, also shot at police officers, injuring two of them before he was shot and killed by police.

Investigators are still working to piece together details of the attack.

The suspect

Jabbar is a U.S. citizen from Texas and Army veteran. The agency said he was carrying an ISIS flag in the Ford pickup truck, and that agents were working to determine his “potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.”

The deceased 42-year-old man who law enforcement said is responsible for the New Year’s Day mass killings on Bourbon Street is a former real estate agent and U.S. citizen from Texas who spent time in the military, records show.

Jabbar recently told his Houston landlord that he was planning to move to New Orleans, the landlord said in an interview Wednesday.

The FBI also said it was investigating how Jabbar came into possession of the truck with Texas plates, which appeared to be rented.

Court and property records show Jabbar lived in Fresno, Texas — about 20 miles south of Houston — with his wife before they divorced in August 2022. He held a real estate license from 2019 to 2023 and worked for Deloitte, one of the nation’s largest financial services companies, records show.

Jabbar started renting a mobile home in Houston two years ago after reaching out about the posting on Facebook, said his landlord, Asia Maryam.

Maryam, who said she was “shocked” at the news, said Jabbar never gave her or the neighbors any problems and paid his rent in cash on time every month.

FBI: He wasn’t alone

Jabbar didn’t work alone, FBI officials said Wednesday.

The FBI is taking lead on the investigation into 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran from Texas who was fatally shot by police after he mowed people down on Bourbon Street in a pickup truck that carried an Islamic State group flag. FBI Special Agent Alethea Duncan said others involved in the attack are likely still on the loose.

“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including of those of his known associates,” Duncan said.

Surveillance footage circulated among law enforcement also captured three men and a woman placing one of multiple improvised explosive devices in the French Quarter, according to a Louisiana State Police bulletin obtained by the Associated Press.

The FBI, which has dubbed the incident “an act of terrorism,” is asking anyone who has had contact with Jabbar in the past 72 hours to contact the agency, at 1-800-CALL-FBI. The agency is also asking people to submit any video they may have captured of the incident.

Explosives found

Authorities found two confirmed improvised explosive devices in and around the French Quarter Wednesday morning after a man plowed through a crowd on Bourbon Street.

About 30 minutes after the attack, police found a homemade bomb near police cars parked at Orleans and Bourbon streets. The device was a pipe bomb with nails and plastic explosives concealed inside of an ice chest.

Barriers were down

A set of security barriers that were installed in 2017 to prevent terrorist attacks along Bourbon Street were being replaced when a driver barreled down the city’s most famous thoroughfare hours into the New Year on Wednesday, killing 10 and injuring dozens.

The removable stainless-steel bollards are designed to be securely locked at each crosswalk along Bourbon Street between Canal and St. Ann streets, according to Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration. The attack occurred near the intersection of Bourbon and Iberville streets.

The bollard project began in November and was scheduled to last three months. It involves removing and replacing sections of road to take out the existing bollards. A city press release on Tuesday night noted the project was ongoing, but did not provide details of work done thus far.

The old barriers never worked too well, said Bob Simms, who until recently oversaw security initiatives for the French Quarter Management District.

“They were very ineffective. The track was always full of crap; beads and doubloons and God knows what else. Not the best idea,” Simms said. “Eventually everybody realized the need to replace them. They’re in the process of doing that, but the new ones are not yet operational.”

Simms said the old barrier at the crosswalk of Canal and Bourbon streets was removed a few weeks ago. Equipment for a replacement is in place, he said.

“They’re doing it in time for the Super Bowl,” Simms said. “It’s ironic in a way.”

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter said the bollards would have prevented any vehicle from crossing in to Bourbon Street if they were operable. If not, the city should have have blocked access with heavy equipment, Carter said in an interview with WWL Louisiana.

Sugar Bowl postponed

The kickoff time of the Allstate Sugar Bowl is expected to be moved to 3 p.m. Thursday, according to multiple sources.

The game between Georgia and Notre Dame in the Superdome was tentatively moved from Wednesday to Thursday at 7:45 p.m. in the wake of the suspected terrorist attack, Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley announced Wednesday.

But officials from both teams requested the re-scheduled kickoff time be moved up because of logistical reasons, sources said.

Fire believed to be part of attack

Residents in the St. Roch area spent several hours Wednesday waiting for the all-clear to return to their homes after a fire broke out at an Airbnb that investigators believe is connected to the Bourbon Street attack.

Investigators were on the scene at 1329 Mandeville Street, and sources confirmed the morning fire is being investigated as arson.

Shannon Hardiman, who lives in the area, said her neighbor told her the police were taping off Mandeville.

“They told us they would recommend leaving the area so we grabbed the dogs and said, OK,” she said.

She grabbed coffee as she passed the time.

“It’s hard,” she said. “It’s really hard.”

President speaks

President Joe Biden extolled the magic of New Orleans in his first public remarks about Wednesday morning’s deadly attack on Bourbon Street, saying “the spirit of New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated” despite “a terrible assault on the city.”

“New Orleans is a place unlike any other place in the world, a city full of charm and joy,” Biden said Wednesday night from Camp David. So many people around the world love New Orleans because of its history, its culture, above all its people.”

Biden last visited New Orleans in August to promote research at Tulane into find new ways to make cancer less lethal.

This story was originally published January 1, 2025 at 7:27 AM with the headline "New Orleans death toll climbs, suspect identified and pipe bombs found in French Quarter."