A DRIVER who killed 10 and wounded 30 when he plowed his vehicle into New Year’s revelers in New Orleans has been preliminarily identified.
Shamsud Din Jabbar is believed to be the driver who rammed a white pickup truck at high speed into a crowd of pedestrians in the city’s packed French Quarter district at 3:15 am along Bourbon Street.
XA white pick-up truck that crashed into New Year’s revelers in New Orleans[/caption]
AP10 people were killed and at least 30 injured in the horrific attack[/caption]
APThe attack happened in the French Quarter at around 3:15 am local time[/caption]
He was killed in a firefight with police following the sickening attack which left two officers wounded.
Din Jabbar has been named by multiple news sources as the driver behind the horror slaughter early on New Year’s Day.
Eyewitnesses said Din Jabbar got out of the truck wearing full body armor and wielding an assault rifle.
He is reported to be a 42-year-old American citizen born and raised in Texas who formerly served in the US Army.
At least one improvised explosive device had been found in the area, according to the FBI.
Multiple devices were found in an ice chest in the pickup truck, a law enforcement source told CNN.
Police say the attack was deliberate and was not a DUI, and are investigating whether or not it was an act of terrorism.
Horrific pictures from the scene show the truck with its hood buckled from the force of the impact.
A black ISIS flag was on the back of the truck when the attack happened, reports NOLA.com.
Officials are still working on information about Din Jabbar’s background and potential travel history, senior law enforcement sources told NBC News.
Grim footage shared on X shows motionless bodies scattered on the floor, some of them bloodied, while loud bangs that are possible gunshots are heard.
An eyewitness described the surreal moment the pickup truck’s driver “punched the gas and mowed over the barricade and hit a petty cab passenger.
The unnamed woman told NBC News, “And there were just bodies and the screams. You can’t un-think about, you know, un-hear that. It was chaos.”
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the killings as a “terrorist attack” while the city’s police chief said the act was intentional.
Liz Murrill, Louisiana’s attorney general, said in a post on X she was praying for the victims of what she called “the brutal intentional slaughter of innocent people celebrating the New Year in New Orleans.”
“This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others,” the FBI said in a statement.
“The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased.
“The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism.”
Investigators are working to determine whether Din Jabbar had a connection to ISIS and whether he was working alone, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Fox News has reported that some four or five others are suspected of having helped him carry out the deadly attack.
None of the victims have been named yet, but Israel’s Foreign Ministry says two Israeli nationals are among the wounded.
He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did. It was very intentional behaviour. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could.
Anne Kirkpatrick
Bourbon Street, known worldwide as one of the largest destinations for New Year’s Eve parties, was packed at the time as crowds prepared for the Sugar Bowl college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome later in the day.
Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said the game would go ahead as scheduled and said police officers would work to ensure the safety of spectators and players.
The ramming attack occurred near the intersection of Bourbon Street and Canal Street.
Addressing reporters earlier on Wednesday, Kirkpatrick said the driver deliberately went around barriers and drove intentionally into pedestrians in a clear attempt to maim and kill as many people as possible.
“Last night we had over 300 officers out here,” she said.
“And because of the intentional mindset of this perpetrator who went around our barricades in order to conduct this, he was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
She added, “This man was trying to run over as many people as he could. It was not a DUI situation.”
XReports claim an ISIS flag was attached to the back of the truck[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
