At least 15 people were killed and dozens were hurt when a US Army veteran carrying an Islamic State flag and “hellbent” on carnage rammed into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revelers in New Orleans on Wednesday, according to officials.
The FBI identified the attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas. He appeared to have worked as an IT specialist in the military and was a real estate agent in Houston.
Officials said they were looking for “accomplifiers,” but provided few details.
Jabbar was referred to as a “terrorist,” according to police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, and the FBI claimed an ISIS flag was found in the car.
Joe Biden, the president of the US, claimed that Jabbar had uploaded videos online hours before the attack that “showed that he was inspired by ISIS.”
Biden also stated that law enforcement was looking into any possible connections between the fatal shooting of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday and the subsequent Las Vegas explosion, though he cautioned that no injuries had been discovered so far.
Authorities said a manhunt was being conducted, with FBI agent Alethea Duncan advising them that they “do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible.”
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said: “We’re hunting some bad people down”.
The FBI claimed to be carrying out searches in “other states” in New Orleans. Earlier, the bureau’s field office in Houston said it was conducting activity “related” to the New Orleans attack.
An FBI spokesman told AFP that 15 people had been killed in the attack, citing the New Orleans coroner’s office.
– Aiming for ‘ carnage ‘ –
In the heart of the French Quarter, crowded with people celebrating the start of 2025, the incident apparently started at 3:15 am (9:15 GMT) near Bourbon Street, where it was.
The suspect fatally shot two police officers in a shootout with them after crashing a white Ford F-150 electric pickup into a group of pedestrians. Two homemade bombs were found and neutralized, the FBI said.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could”, Kirkpatrick told reporters.
Driving at “very high speed” and in a “very intentional” manner, “he was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did”, Kirkpatrick said.
Jabbar previously worked in the army as an IT and human resources specialist from 2007 to 2015, and then as an army reserve until 2020, according to the Pentagon.
According to an army spokesman, he was stationed in Afghanistan from February 2009 until January 2010.
Biden said that “thus far, there’s nothing” linking the New Orleans attack with the Las Vegas explosion, which police described as an “isolated” incident.
Both of the vehicles involved in the incidents were rented from Turo, a well-known car-sharing service. That was a “coincidence,” according to the sheriff in Las Vegas.
A spokesperson for the app, used by millions of people in the United States, said they were working with law enforcement.
The spokesperson told AFP, “We do not believe that either renter… had a criminal background that would have made them a security threat.”
Horror in a well-known neighborhood
In the small hours of the year’s first day, revelers were celebrating in the French Quarter, renowned for its bars, restaurants, jazz history and Mardi Gras parties.
Witness Zion Parsons claimed that the incident turned into a horror story.
He told CNN, “It is truly a war zone, in my opinion. “There were trash, blood, and bodies.”
“People were terrified, running, screaming”, he said.
Another witness, Jimmy Cothran, told ABC that the mayhem was “insanity”.
“We instantly counted, I’d say, 10 bodies — six clearly, graphically deceased, and the others yelling with no one around”, he said.
The Super Bowl will take place in New Orleans, one of the country’s most popular cities, in the coming months.
The city was scheduled to host the Sugar Bowl, a significant college football game, just before the attack. It was delayed until Thursday.
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