A New Year’s Day tragedy in New Orleans has left the city in mourning, with ten fatalities and numerous injuries reported after a vehicle plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street. Law enforcement has identified Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, as the sole perpetrator of the attack. Jabbar, who was killed by police at the scene, reportedly drove a rented truck into the revelers.
The incident prompted heightened security for the Sugar Bowl, a college football quarterfinal, which took place the following day without incident. However, authorities are now investigating a possible connection between Jabbar and a separate vehicle explosion in Las Vegas that occurred hours before the New Orleans attack.
Federal investigators, including the FBI, are examining whether there are links between Jabbar and Matthew Livelsberger, 37, identified as the driver in the Las Vegas incident involving a Tesla Cybertruck. Both men are U.S. Army veterans who served at the same base and deployed to Afghanistan concurrently; however, initial reports indicate no direct interaction between the two. Despite these superficial similarities, officials stress that no definitive evidence connects the two incidents.
Meanwhile, the city is grappling with the aftermath of the attack. Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser criticized New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, alleging a lack of leadership in the wake of the tragedy. Further investigation is underway to determine if additional security measures could have been implemented in the city’s iconic neighborhood. President Biden is considering a visit to the area in the coming days.
Photographs released by the FBI reveal Jabbar near Bourbon Street an hour before the attack, as well as a cooler authorities believe was intended to be an explosive device. These images provide a timeline of Jabbar's actions leading up to the mass casualty event. New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick has defended her department's security measures, stating, “If you were experienced with terrorism, you would not be asking that question."
The suspect’s former commander, Rich Groen, has expressed shock at Jabbar's actions, describing him as a “great soldier.” In a related matter, Tim Tebow addressed the violence at the Sugar Bowl, offering words of support and highlighting the community’s resilience. The incident has also reignited the discussion about extremism within the military ranks with data from the University of Maryland indicating 25% of all terror plots in the US between 1990 and 2022 were plotted by individuals with military backgrounds.
Amidst the local and federal investigations, Republican officials are drawing a connection between the tragedy and the Biden administration’s border policies despite the attacker being a U.S. citizen. As Bourbon Street reopens, memorials have been set up and police presence is heightened, in a show of resilience and remembrance. In a separate event, a fire in the French Quarter, believed to be started by homeless individuals, was extinguished with minimal damage and no injuries.
