The suspect involved in the car-ramming attack in New Orleans has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US military veteran from Texas.

According to the FBI, Jabbar deliberately drove a pick-up truck into a crowd of New Year’s revellers on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 people and injuring many others.

The suspect was killed in a subsequent police shootout. The FBI is investigating the attack as a potential act of “terrorism” but has not specified the evidence behind this classification. Authorities believe that Jabbar may not have acted alone in the attack on this popular tourist destination.

Jabbar, a US citizen, rented the F-150 Lightning electric truck used in the attack through the car rental website Turo.

This website was also connected to another incident in Las Vegas, where a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a Trump hotel, though it remains unclear whether the two incidents are linked.

15 killed in US truck attack

Jabbar served in the US military from 2007 until 2020 and had a deployment to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.

He earned a degree in computer information systems from Georgia State University in 2017. The FBI discovered an ISIL (ISIS) flag inside the truck, prompting an investigation into any potential links between Jabbar and terrorist organisations.

New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno stated that Jabbar was wearing full military gear, and police described his actions as intentional.

Court records show Jabbar had financial troubles in 2022, including falling behind on house payments by $27,000 and accumulating $16,000 in credit card debt, while going through a divorce. He expressed a desire to quickly finalise the divorce and avoid foreclosure.

Jabbar had worked for consulting firm Deloitte, earning around $10,000 a month. The company confirmed that he served in a staff-level role since being hired in 2021 and is cooperating with authorities.

Colin Clarke from the Soufan Center remarked, “There’s a number of red flags when you look at this [attack], including the attacker’s age – not really the kind of prototype for an individual to be radicalised. The fact that he was in the US military, so I think it bears caution for sure.”

Source: With inputs from Al Jazeera