Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas, intentionally drove a Ford pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified a total of 136 victims, with at least 14 dead. After the initial strike, Jabbar left the truck and opened fire on law enforcement and died from police fire.
An investigation by the FBI found that the truck was rented, and on the tail end of the pickup, Jabbar placed an Islamic State flag. In 2022, Jabbar became a more devout Muslim and began to isolate himself. Then, in the spring of 2024, Jabbar adopted extremist views.
Jabbar had more destruction planned than he was able to execute. Two homemade bombs were pre-placed at the end of Bourbon Street connected to a detonating device found in the cab of Jabbar’s truck. The whole attack was meticulously planned since at least the end of Oct. 2024. Jabbar made multiple visits to New Orleans, and on one occasion rented an apartment on one of the cross streets with Bourbon (the street of the parade). Freshman Chrystie Charpentier explained, “Personally, I think the police should’ve done something about it before the driver got out of the vehicle and started shooting because it could have gotten worse.”
Throughout the investigation, representatives noted that there should have been better security and preparedness for the New Year’s Day event. Sophomore Lauren Comegna agreed and noted, “This is not the first time we’ve seen something like this happen in America; there are countless times that events like this could have been prevented.” According to an Associated Press News (apnews.com) post published on Jan. 22, 2025, lawmakers explained that a secret agent in charge from the FBI should have been present for the parade. Lyonel Myrthil, also known as the “bureau’s top official in the city,” was away on a family vacation in Europe when the incident took place. Additionally, Deputy Director Paul Abbate was not fully aware that Myrthil was not present, but within hours of the incident, Myrthil deployed a senior counterterrorism official to the scene in his place.
Countering concerns regarding security, New Orleans law enforcement officer Anne Kirkpatrick explained that there were barriers, officers, and cars patrolling the scene, yet Jabbar was “trying to run over as many people as he could” and intentionally avoided barriers and other precautions.
Like the tragedies of 9/11, when bystanders near the towers helped other strangers, civilians in New Orleans did whatever they could to help the victims as soon as the streets cleared. People at home were disturbed by the events that unfolded and created fundraisers and GoFundMe pages to support those impacted. Junior Nick Sferrazza sympathized, “Seeing it on the news made me so upset to [witness] so many people injured and killed in this act of violence. It is important we are all there for each other and for the people in New Orleans to help work together and support each other after such a horrible event.”
