On January 1, 2025, at around 3:15 a.m. CST, a man intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The man then proceeded to exit his vehicle and engage in a shootout with the police before ultimately being fatally shot.
Christopher Raia, a deputy assistant director of the FBI counterintelligence division said, “This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act.” The attacker was identified as a 42-year-old army veteran and United States citizen from Texas, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, and authorities are confident that he acted alone. Authorities also explain that new evidence shows that Jabbar was “100% inspired by ISIS.” Jabbar served in Afghanistan and according to investigators pledged his allegiance to ISIS before last summer. According to Foreign Terrorist Organizations, “ISIS is a Salafi-jihadist group that has conducted and inspired terrorist attacks worldwide, resulting in thousands killed or injured.” At least 14 people were killed in the attack and dozens of others were injured. Jabbar attacked in the name of ISIS.
The FBI says Jabbar rented an electric truck on Monday, 12/3031 in Houston Texas, and then drove to New Orleans on the following Tuesday evening. Images have been released of Jabbar an hour before he attacked along with a photo of a cooler with two explosive devices inside. Jabbar originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned that the news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers.”
According to ABC News, fourteen people lost their lives during this tragedy. One of those victims was 27-year-old Martin “Tiger” Bech. WMC guidance counselor Mr. Cusack explains how his wife’s nephew Dom is best friends with one of the survivors of the attack who goes by the name Quigley. Quigley was with Tiger the night of the attack. Although sustaining many injuries, Quigley fortunately survived. Talking about Quigley, Mr. Cusack says, “…everything that he does kind of is in memory of his friend].” According to Mr. Cusack, the Philadelphia Eagles invited Quigley to the Super Bowl to watch the game to recognize what he went through.
Less than 48 hours after the attack, Bourbon Street returned to normalcy while still showing immense respect and honor. CBS news reporter, Omar Villafranca, says that Bourbon Street was able to return to normalcy so quickly because of the “…heavy police presence. New Orleans PD, state troopers, FBI agents, and Homeland Security agents all walking around trying to make people who are coming here after the game feel safe.” He goes on to explain there’s already a party happening on Bourbon Street with energy levels going up by the second.
According to CBS News, the FBI declared that investigators found no definitive link between the deadly New Year’s morning truck attack and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck a few hours later outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.
May the lives of the following victims rest in peace: Kareem Badawi (23), Tiger Bech (27), Drew Dauphin (26), Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux (18), Billy DiMaio (25), Hubert Gauthreauz (21), Reggie Hunter (37), Terrence Kennedy (63), Nicole Prerez (27), LaTasha Polk (47), Edward Pettifer (31), Brandon Taylor (43), Matthew Tenedorio (25), and Elliot Wilkinson (40).