The suspect in a deadly attack on New Year’s revelers in New Orleans has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S.-born citizen and U.S. Army veteran from Texas, according to the FBI.
At least 15 people were killed and over two dozen injured after a man drove a Ford pickup truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street at a high rate of speed early Wednesday, multiple law enforcement sources and Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter told ABC News.
Authorities are working to determine whether the deceased suspect had any affiliation with terrorist organizations after an ISIS flag was found on a pole on the truck’s trailer hitch.
After barreling through the crowd over a three-block stretch, the suspect allegedly got out of the truck wielding an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told ABC News. Officers returned fire, killing the suspect, police said. At least two police officers were shot and wounded, authorities said.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon. “It was not a DUI situation. This is more complex and more serious.”
She said the driver was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
Weapons and potential IEDs were located in the suspect’s vehicle and other potential IEDs were located in the French Quarter, according to the FBI, which is leading the investigation. As of now, two IEDs have been found and rendered safe, the FBI said.
Investigators found homemade pipe bombs at the scene of the Bourbon Street attack, law enforcement sources told ABC News. The crude devices contained coils and nails, the sources said. Authorities also found a grenade, which is among the items tested for viability, sources said.
In addition to the assault rifle, Jabbar was allegedly armed with a handgun, sources with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the horrific incident as a “terrorist attack” and the FBI said it was being investigated as an act of terror.
The suspect is not believed to be “solely responsible” for the attack, according to the FBI, which said it is pursuing leads to identify any of his associates.
New Orleans police have reviewed surveillance video that appears to show several people planting potential explosive devices in advance of the vehicle ramming, leading the FBI to conclude the driver of the pickup truck did not act alone in the attack, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Investigators are urgently working to identify the individuals who were seen on camera and take them into custody, the sources said.
Jabbar is believed to have been discharged honorably from the Army, though investigators are still looking into his military record, the FBI said.
In a YouTube video posted in 2020, Jabbar says he was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, and spent a decade working in the U.S. military before becoming a Realtor in the Houston area. His years in the military were spent working as a human resources and IT specialist, Jabbar says in the video, which has since been removed from YouTube.
Carter told ABC News that the suspect appears to have “lived or spent some time” in the New Orleans area.
The vehicle had a Texas license plate, according to Carter.
MORE: Witnesses describe scenes of carnage after New Orleans attack that left 15 dead
The truck used in the attack appeared to be a Ford F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle. It appears the truck was rented through the Turo app — a carsharing company, according to Rodrigo Diaz, the owner of the truck.
Diaz told ABC News he rented the truck to an individual through the app and is currently talking to the FBI. He declined further comment.
Diaz’s wife, Dora Diaz, told ABC News that she and her husband are devastated by the incident.
“My husband rents cars through the Turo app. I can’t tell you anything else. I’m here with my kids, and this is devastating,” Dora Diaz said.
ABC News has reached out to Turo.
What we know about Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Orleans attack originally appeared on abcnews.go.com