People react as they attend a vigil for the victims of a truck attack on New Year’s Day, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. January 4, 2025. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The man responsible for the truck attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day (January 1, 2025) that killed 14 people visited the city twice before and recorded video of the French Quarter with hands-free glasses, an FBI official said Sunday (January 5, 2025).

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Houston, also travelled to Cairo, Egypt, as well as Ontario, Canada, before the attack, although it was not yet clear whether those trips were connected to the attack, Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said at a press conference.

The attack early Wednesday (January 1, 2025) was carried out by Mr. Jabbar, a former U.S. Army soldier, from Houston. Police fatally shot Mr. Jabbar, 42, during a firefight at the scene of the deadly crash on Bourbon Street, famous worldwide for its festive vibes in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter.

Federal investigators so far believe Mr. Jabbar acted alone.

“All investigative details and evidence that we have now still support that Mr. Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans,” said Mr. Raia. “We have not seen any indications of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still looking into potential associates in the U.S. and outside of our borders.”

Lyonel Myrthil, FBI special agent in charge of the New Orleans Field Office, said the suspect in the attack travelled to Cairo in the summer of 2023 and then to Canada a few days later.

“Our agents are getting answers to where he went, who he went with and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here,” Mr. Myrthil said.

Mr. Jabbar had also travelled to New Orleans ahead of the attack in October. Mr. Myrthil said video shows the suspect riding through the French Quarter on a bicycle wearing “meta glasses” that are capable of recording or livestreaming.

President Joe Biden planned to travel to New Orleans with first lady Jill Biden on Monday (January 6, 2025) to “grieve with the families and community members impacted by the tragic attack.”

Mr. Jabbar proclaimed his support for the Islamic State militant group in online videos posted hours before he struck. It was the deadliest IS-inspired assault on U.S. soil in years, laying bare what federal officials have warned is a resurgent international terrorism threat.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” that the country faces “not only the persistent threat of foreign terrorism … for the past ten years, we’ve seen a significant increase in what we term homegrown violent extremism.”

Mr. Jabbar reserved the vehicle used in the attack more than six weeks earlier, on Nov. 14, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

Mr. Jabbar had suspected bomb-making materials at his Houston home, which contained a workbench in the garage and hazardous materials believed to have been used to make explosive devices, officials familiar with a search conducted there said.

Authorities found crude bombs in the neighbourhood of the attack in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional. Mr. Jabbar purchased a cooler in Vidor, Texas, hours before the attack and gun oil from a store in Sulphur, Louisiana, investigators said.

Investigators searching Mr. Jabbar’s rental truck found a transmitter intended to trigger the two bombs, the FBI said in a statement Friday (January 3, 2025), adding that there were bomb-making materials at the New Orleans home he rented. Mr. Jabbar tried to burn down the house by setting a small fire in a hallway with accelerants, but the flames burned out before firefighters arrived.

Mr. Jabbar exited the crashed truck wearing a ballistic vest and helmet and fired at police, wounding at least two officers before he was fatally shot by police. New Orleans police have declined to say how many shots were fired by Mr. Jabbar and the officers or whether any bystanders may have been hit, citing the active investigation.

Police have used multiple vehicles and barricades to block traffic at Bourbon and Canal streets since the attack. Other law enforcement agencies helped city officers provide extra security, said Reese Harper, a New Orleans police spokesperson.

The first parade of the Carnival season leading up to Mardi Gras was scheduled to take place Monday (January 6, 2025) evening. New Orleans also will host the Super Bowl on Feb. 9.

In a previous effort to protect the French Quarter, the city installed steel columns known as bollards to restrict vehicle access to Bourbon Street. The posts retracted to allow deliveries to bars and restaurants. They stopped working reliably after being gummed up by Mardi Gras beads, beer and other detritus.

When New Year’s Eve arrived, the bollards were gone. They will be replaced ahead of the Super Bowl, officials have said.

The New Orleans coroner’s office has identified all 14 victims, with the youngest listed as 18 and the oldest 63. Most of the victims were in their 20s. About 30 people were injured.

A British man who was killed when the driver of a white pickup truck sped down Bourbon Street packed with holiday revelers was identified Saturday as the stepson of a former nanny to the Royal Family. Prince William expressed shock and sadness at the news of the death of Edward Pettifer of London.

Only one person remains unidentified of the 14 victims killed in the New Orleans truck attack. The coroner’s office said all the victims died from blunt force injuries. The coroner said Friday that they were working to identify a female victim. The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was fatally shot in a firefight with police.

The youngest victim was 18 years old and the oldest 63. Most victims were in their 20s. They came from from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey and Great Britain.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said the innocent lives lost will never be forgotten, as he declared on Friday a period of mourning for the victims, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 6. A different victim is to be remembered each day.

“However, Louisiana and her people will never cower in fear,” he said. “Instead, we will unite and come back stronger in honor of every person who lost their lives that day.”

About 30 people were injured and 16 remain hospitalized, half in intensive care.

Thirty-one year old Edward Pettifer, a British citizen, was identified Saturday as one of the 14 victims killed in the truck attack.

Pettifer’s family said they were “devastated at the tragic news of Ed‘s death” and described him as “a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and a friend to so many.”

“We will all miss him terribly. Our thoughts are with the other families who have lost their family members due to this terrible attack,” the family added.

The U.K.’s Foreign Office also said it was supporting Pettifer’s family and was in contact with U.S. authorities.

Brandon Taylor, 43, of Harvey, Louisiana, was killed when the pickup truck careened down Bourbon Street.

Elliot Wilkinson, 40, of Slidell, Louisiana, died in the New Year’s attack. Cecil Wilkinson said in a message to his little brother, Elliot Wilkinson, on Facebook that he was loved “and you will truly be missed.”

“I know life was hard for you at times. But I wasn’t expecting to get the phone call this morning you was one of them that got hit in New Orleans in the French Quarter,” Wilkinson said in the post.

After years working in the service industry and maintenance, New Orleans native Terrence Kennedy spent his retirement doing what he loved: strolling down to catch the ever-present party in the French Quarter.

“Bourbon is like a free party,” his niece, Monisha James, told The Associated Press. “He was enjoying his city that he enjoyed for 63 years.”

James said her uncle liked to people-watch around the French Quarter and often sparked conversations with strangers. “That was what he was doing to enjoy his retirement,” she said.

Kennedy had told his sister on New Year’s Eve that he was going out. When he didn’t answer the phone the next morning, the family spent a frantic day searching until the coroner confirmed he died in the New Year’s Day attack.

The family still doesn’t know if he died from the car’s impact or gunshot wounds; all they were told is that he was still alive when he got to the hospital.

James, 43, described her uncle as a humble helper and a handyman. Whether it was fixing up a house or playing with his nieces and nephews, he was always eager to serve others.

“Just a sweet, kind, loving, helpful person that would not harm anyone,” James said.

Sadly, illness had affected his family in recent years. Four of Kennedy’s siblings died before him, including a sister who had passed away a month earlier. The violent nature of Kennedy’s death stunned the family, on top of everything they’ve been through lately. Right now, said James, they’re supporting each other.

“That’s such a shock to our family because never in a million years would you be able to tell me that’s what happened to him,” she said.

Kennedy’s younger sister Jacqueline Kennedy, 59, said her brother was known for his big heart and his love of sports.

“My brother had a kind heart. He was loving and caring and giving and he loved the Pittsburgh Steelers,” she said.

Billy DiMaio, 25, of Holmdel, New Jersey, was humble and gentled-hearted, so devoted to family that he had a tattoo featuring all of his cousins’ names, his parents told NOLA.com.

A New York City-based account executive for the media company Audacy, DiMaio was in New Orleans to celebrate New Year’s Eve and see friends who planned to go to the Sugar Bowl, Tracie and Bill DiMaio, of Holmdel, New Jersey, told the news site. His friends escaped injury.

“He was a good, humble kid,” Bill DiMaio said. “He loved life.”

Billy DiMaio grew up on Long Island, New York, before the family moved to New Jersey. He graduated in 2022 from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, where he was on the lacrosse team and earned a master’s degree.

“He was a pure, gentle-hearted soul,” his mother said. “He will be truly missed.”

He had worked for Audacy since 2023.

“Beyond his professional achievements, Billy will be fondly remembered for his unwavering work ethic, positive attitude, and kindness,” Audacy said in an emailed statement.

Hurbert Gauthreaux, 21, of Gretna, Louisiana, was among the victims, the coroner’s office said.

Archbishop Shaw High School, in Marrero, Louisiana, posted on Facebook that Gauthreaux was from the class of 2021.

Gauthreaux “was tragically killed in the senseless act of violence that occurred early this morning in the French Quarter. He was 21 years old,” the Catholic boys school posted Wednesday.

Kareem Badawi, 23, was a University of Alabama freshman when he was killed in the attack. A native of Louisiana and a graduate of the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, Badawi had started at the Alabama university this fall.

“My son was full of life,” his father Belal Badawi said in an interview.

Back home in Baton Rouge for winter break, Badawi had gone to New Orleans with friends to celebrate the new year, his father said. After they saw the news of the truck attack, they tried to reach Kareem, but he didn’t answer.

“Then I saw his phone when I tracked it was in the area that it happened,” belal Badawi said. “So, then we knew that’s something wrong. He’s not answering. We drove to New Orleans. We live in Baton Rouge, we went to the hospital and we waited a few hours and the FBI came with the list of all the casualties.”

Badawi said he was a lovely boy.

“I lost my son. He’s a good boy,” he said of his son. “Unfortunately, his life ended that quick and with no reason. Just nothing he did to deserve for somebody to come and kill him.”

Andrew Dauphin, 26, of Montgomery, Alabama, did in the attack.

Christopher B. Roberts, president of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, said on the social platform X that Dauphin was 2023 graduate.

“Words cannot convey the sorrow the Auburn Family feels for Drew’s family and friends during this unimaginably difficult time,” Roberts said. “Our thoughts are with the Dauphin family and the families of all the victims of this senseless tragedy.”

Dauphin was a supplier process engineer at the American Honda Motor Company in Birmingham, Alabama, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Matthew Tenedorio of Picayune, Mississippi, was killed in the truck attack, the coroner’s office said.

“He was 25 years old. He was just starting life. He had the job of his dreams,” his mother, Cathy Tenedorio, told NBC News. “It’s just very sad.”

A GoFundMe page created by a cousin says he was an audiovisual technician at the Superdome.

“He was a wonderful kid,” Louis Tenedorio added. “He loved people. He loved animals. He always had a smile. So many friends. He had so many friends.”

Cathy Tenedorio said she had spent New Year’s Eve with Matthew and another one of her sons.

“We had dinner and we did fireworks outside, and just laughing and hugging each other and telling each other we loved each other,” she said. She added that they had tried to dissuade him from going into the city.

“They don’t think about risk,” she said.

Zion Parsons, of Gulfport, Mississippi, had been celebrating New Year’s Eve at his first night on Bourbon Street when a vehicle appeared and plowed into his friend, Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, who he said had dreamed of becoming a nurse.

“A truck hit the corner and comes barreling through throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air,” Parsons told The Associated Press. “It hit her and flung her like at least 30 feet and I was just lucky to be alive.”

As the crowd scattered in the chaos he ran through a gruesome aftermath of bleeding and maimed victims, hearing gunshots and explosive sounds.

“Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering” Parsons said. “People crying on the floor, like brain matter all over the ground. It was just insane, like the closest thing to a war zone that I’ve ever seen.”

Dedeaux had a job at a hospital and was set to start college and begin working towards her goal of becoming a registered nurse.

“She had her mindset — she didn’t have everything figured out but she had the plan laid down,” Parsons said.

A 37-year-old father of two from Baton Rouge, Reggie Hunter had just left work and headed to celebrate New Year’s with a cousin when the attack happened, his first cousin Shirell Jackson told Nola.com.

Hunter died and his cousin was injured, Jackson said. The coroner’s office said he was from Prairieville, Louisiana.

Tiger Bech, a 27-year-old former high school and college football player from Louisiana was among those killed.

Kim Broussard, athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette, told NOLA.com that Bech attended the high school, where he played wide receiver, quarterback, punt returner and defensive back. Bech played football at Princeton University before graduating in 2021.

Marty Cannon, STM principal and former coach of Bech, said he was charismatic, intelligent and an incredibly talented football player. He regularly returned home to visit his tight-knit family, close friends and people at the school. He was home over Christmas.

“We live in a relatively small community here where not a lot of people leave but many do,” Cannon said. “I’m not surprised at all that Tiger could take off from south Louisiana and go off and get an amazing education at a place like Princeton and then lock himself into a community up there and just flourish. He’s that kind of guy.”

Bech has been working at Seaport Global. “He was extremely well regarded by everybody who knew him,” said company spokesperson Lisa Lieberman.

Nicole Perez was a single mother to a 4-year-old son working hard to make life better for her family when she was killed, according to her employer.

Perez, 27, was recently promoted to manager at Kimmy’s Deli in Metairie, Louisiana, and “was really excited about it,” deli owner Kimberly Usher said in an interview with the AP. Usher confirmed Perez’s death through her sister, who also works for her.

Usher said Perez would walk in the morning to the deli, which opened at breakfast time, and ask lots of questions about the business side of the operations. She also was permitted to bring her son, Melo, to work.

“She was a really good mom,” said Usher, who started a GoFundMe account to cover Perez’s burial costs and to help with expenses for her son that “he will need to transition into a new living situation,” the donation request says.

— Heaven Sensky-Kirsch said her father, Jeremi Sensky, endured 10 hours of surgery for injuries that included two broken legs. He was taken off a ventilator Thursday.

Jeremi Sensky was ejected from the wheelchair he was using and had bruises to his face and head, Sensky-Kirsch said in a phone interview from a hospital intensive care unit.

“He’s talking right now,” Sensky-Kirsch said late Thursday morning.

Sensky, 51, who works in the family’s tree service business, had driven from his home in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, to New Orleans to celebrate the holiday.

Before the attack, Sensky and the two friends had been having pizza, his daughter said. Sensky left them to return to his hotel on Canal Street because he felt cold, she said.

Sensky-Kirsch said others could see the attacker coming and were able to run out of the way, but her father “was stuck on the road.” His wheelchair can be seen in some images lodged against a crane.

When he didn’t return to the hotel, they went to look for him, she said.

“We thought he was dead,” Sensky-Kirsch said. “We can’t believe he’s alive.”

— Ryan Quigley, who was a teammate of Bech’s at Princeton, was with him when they were struck by the truck. Quigley was injured, according to family and friends.

“Ryan is doing okay. He is stable and resting in the company of his family and friends,” the Quigleys said in an update on a GoFundMe page set up by his friends. “Ryan loves you all. Please keep the Bech family, the other families, and all of those affected by this tragedy in your prayers. Thank you all.”

— University of Georgia President Jere W. Morehead said on X that a student was critically injured in the attack and is receiving medical treatment. He did not name the student.

— The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on X that two Israeli citizens were injured in the attack.

— University of Mississippi Chancellor Glenn Boyce said Thursday that one of the university’s students was critically injured in New Orleans. Boyce did not identify the student.

Brian Lee plays the piano with his band at Ticklers Piano Show on Bourbon Street, following the opening of the street, on the day of 2025 Sugar Bowl, after people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year’s celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., January 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

A mix of law enforcement, street performers and football fans has filled New Orleans’ blocks as the city inches back to normalcy while mourning victims of the deadly New Year’s rampage in which an Army veteran ploughed a truck into revellers.

Also read: New Orleans truck attacker ‘inspired’ by the Islamic State: FBI

The attack along Bourbon Street killed 14 people, along with the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who officials said was inspired by the Islamic State militant group. Jabbar was fatally shot in a firefight with police after steering his speeding truck around a barricade and ploughing into the crowd. About 30 people were injured.

Authorities finished processing the scene on Thursday (January 2, 2025) morning, removing the last of the bodies. Bourbon Street — famous worldwide for music, open-air drinking and festive vibes — reopened for business by early afternoon.

On the same block where the attack took place, trombone player and lifelong New Orleanian Jonas Green said it was important for his band to be out there the day after the violence.

“I know with this music, it heals, it transforms the feelings that we’re going through into something better,” Green said. “Got to keep on going.”

The Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which was postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was played Thursday evening.

The Joan of Arc parade in the French Quarter is still scheduled to take place Monday (January 6, 2025) to kick off carnival season ahead of Mardi Gras, said Antoinette de Alteriis, one of the organisers. She said they expect close to its typical crowd of around 30,000 participants

FBI confident it was ‘lone wolf attack’

The FBI has continued to hunt for clues about Jabbar but, a day into its investigation, the agency said it was confident he was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star, among others.

The FBI said that hours before the attack, Jabbar, a 42-year-old American citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the famed French Quarter district.

It was the deadliest IS-inspired assault on US soil in years, laying bare what federal officials have warned is a resurgent international terrorism threat. It also comes as the FBI and other agencies brace for dramatic leadership upheaval, and likely policy changes, after President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes office.

Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, stressed there was no indication of a connection between the New Orleans attack and the explosion Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck filled with explosives outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel.

The New Orleans attack plans also included the placement of crude bombs in the neighbourhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional.

Investigators also were trying to understand more about Jabbar’s path to radicalization, which they say culminated with him picking up a rented truck in Houston on Dec. 30 and driving it to New Orleans the following night.

The FBI recovered a black IS flag from Jabbar’s rented pickup and reviewed five videos posted to Facebook, including one in which he said he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” Raia said.

Jabbar also stated he joined IS before last summer and provided a last will and testament, the FBI said.

Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.

A US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorised to speak publicly, said Jabbar travelled to Egypt in 2023, staying in Cairo for a week, before returning to the US and then travelling to Toronto for three days. It was not immediately clear what he did during those travels.

Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, Jabbar’s younger brother, told The Associated Press on Thursday it “doesn’t feel real” that his brother could have done this.

“I never would have thought it’d be him,” he said. “It’s completely unlike him.” He said his brother had been isolated in the last few years but also had been in touch with him recently and did not see any signs of radicalisation.

On Bourbon Street, flowers and candles were arranged as memorials to the victims, while yellow posts were set up on the surrounding blocks. By Thursday night, bouncers danced to music blasting from clubs, tourists posed for photos and a group of street performers preparing to flip over a line of people had no trouble attracting a massive audience.

Mark Tabor, the manager of a Willie’s Chicken Shack on Bourbon Street, said it was strange to feel the disconnect between the normal hustle of the French Quarter outside and the violence he had witnessed less than 48 hours earlier.

“I’m glad they cleaned up the streets, but it’s like everything’s forgotten,” he said. “It’s sad.”

People carry a dead body in a body bag on a stretcher near the site where people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year’s celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., January 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

International condemnation poured in on Wednesday (January 1, 2025) for the attack on a crowd of New Year’s Eve revellers in New Orleans which killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens more.

Here is a round-up of global reaction.

France

“New Orleans, so dear to the hearts of the French, has been struck by terrorism,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, posting in both French and English.

New Orleans was initially founded by colonists from France and the attack took place in the Louisiana city’s famed French Quarter.

“Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the injured, as well as with the American people, whose sorrow we share,” Macron said.

Christian Estrosi, mayor of the southern city of Nice, which suffered a car-ramming attack in 2016 that killed 86 people, also sent condolences.

“The tragedy in New Orleans, a sister city of Nice, very painfully recalls our own… Our thoughts go out to the families and the lives mowed down in mid-New Year’s celebrations,” he said on X.

Britain

“The shockingly violent attack in New Orleans is horrific,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on X.

“My thoughts are with the victims, their families, the emergency responders and the people of the United States at this tragic time.”

China

“We are shocked by this violent attack,” Beijing’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters. “China always opposes any violent and terrorist acts targeting civilians.”

“We mourn the victims, and express our sympathy to their families and those injured.”

Ukraine

“Horrified by the attack in New Orleans, US, which has claimed innocent lives and left many injured,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on X.

“We trust that those responsible for this terrible act will be brought to justice. Violence, terrorism, and any threats to human life have no place in our world and must not be tolerated. Our deepest condolences to the families of the victims… Ukraine stands with the American people and denounces violence.”

European Union

“I am deeply saddened by the deliberate attack on those celebrating New Year’s in New Orleans,” the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, posted on X.

“There is no excuse for such violence… We stand in full solidarity with the victims and their families during this tragic time.”

United Nations

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns” the attack and “extends his condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives”, according to a statement from his spokesperson.

“He also wishes a swift recovery to those persons injured.”

Germany

“This is terrible news from New Orleans,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a post on X.

“People celebrating happily are torn from their lives or injured by senseless hatred. We grieve with the families and friends of the victims and wish all those injured a quick recovery.”

Israel

“Deeply saddened by the terrorist attack in New Orleans,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X.

“My heartfelt condolences go out to the families of the victims. Wishing a swift recovery to the two injured Israeli citizens and all the wounded… Terror has no place in our world.”

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia “condemns and denounces” the attack, its foreign ministry said in a statement on X.

Turkey

“We are deeply saddened by the attack that took place in New Orleans, USA,” Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We extend our condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives… We hope that the motive for the attack will be revealed as soon as possible and that those who might be responsible will be held accountable before justice.”