The suspect in the attack was a lifelong Texas resident. He had an ISIS flag with him.

 

 

Jan. 1, 2025, 2:00 p.m. ET28 minutes ago

Mike BakerNicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Shannon Sims

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/01/us/new-orleans-vehicle-crash

 

The suspect in the attack was a lifelong Texas resident. He had an ISIS flag with him.

 

The man suspected in the New Orleans attack early on New Year’s Day was Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old born in Texas, according to multiple officials.

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was examining an Islamic State flag that was found in the truck used in the attack, as well as a “potential” improvised explosive device discovered in the vehicle.

 

In a YouTube video from 2020 that appears to have been posted by Mr. Jabbar, he spoke positively about his skills in real estate. He said he had been born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, and had served in the U.S. military.

 

“I’ve been here all my life, with the exception of traveling for the military,” he said.

 

He said that in his 10 years in the armed forces, he had worked as a human resources specialist and an information technology specialist.

 

Law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said that Mr. Jabbar had been out of the military for years.

 

Criminal records in Texas show that Mr. Jabbar had previously been charged with minor infractions — once in 2002 for a misdemeanor theft and once in 2005 for driving with an invalid license.

 

The vehicle used in the New Orleans attack, an electric Ford pickup, was registered to a Houston man who made vehicles available for rent on a peer-to-peer car sharing website. That man, who asked that his name not be made public, said that he and his family had preparing for an outing to the zoo on Wednesday morning when he saw the news of the attack and recognized his truck as the one involved.

 

The man said the F.B.I. called him and he explained that he had not been driving the vehicle but had rented it out. He said he had been asked by the federal agents not to discuss the matter publicly.

 

Records show that Mr. Jabbar was married twice, with his first marriage ending in 2012. In the midst of a second divorce in January 2022, Mr. Jabbar wrote an email to his wife’s lawyer in which he described financial problems. “I cannot afford the house payment,” he wrote.

 

“It is past due in excess of $27,000 and in danger of foreclosure if we delay settling the divorce,” he wrote.

 

He said in the email that the business corporation he had formed, a real estate company, had lost more than $28,000 in the previous year. He said he had taken on $16,000 in credit card debt in order to pay for lawyers and for “establishing a second residence.” He suggested in the email that he and his wife sell the house and divide the proceeds evenly.