New Orleans attack: Driver of truck that ploughed through New Year’s crowd, killing 10, identified

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

New Orleans attack: Driver of truck that ploughed through New Year’s crowd, killing 10, identified

Authorities have identified a 42-year-old man who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revellers in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter, killing at least 10 people and injuring 35 more in a suspected act of terrorism.

The driver was killed in a shootout with police after driving a white Ford pickup truck “at a very fast pace” into crowds at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Street at about 3.15 am on Wednesday.

The FBI, which is leading the investigation, said it is treating the incident as an “act of terrorism”.

The agency identified 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US citizen and army veteran from Texas, as the driver of the vehicle.

The FBI is investigating has not ruled out whether

It is also investigating his potential affiliations with terror organisations

In a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

video from 2020 that appears to have been posted by Mr Jabbar, he said he had been born and raised in Beaumont, Texas and had served in the US military for 10 years, the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

reports.

He said his military experience also included work as a human resources specialist and an information technology specialist. Pentagon officials have so far not provided any record of his military service.

In the video, Mr Jabbar also spoke positively about his skills in real estate.

Records obtained by the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

show that Mr Jabbar was married and divorced twice — first in 2012 and again in 2022.

During his second divorce in January 2022, Mr Jabbar wrote an email to his wife’s lawyer describing financial problems.

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

The FBI is working to determine Mr Jabbar’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organisations after finding the flag of the Islamic State in the truck.

Authorities also found weapons, including a potential explosive device, inside the vehicle which they believe Jabbar rented.

The truck was registered to a Houston man, according to public records based on the vehicles number plate, CNN reports. The owner said the truck was listed on Turo, a peer-to-peer car sharing website, but did not answer questions about the renter of the truck.

The FBI said it is working to confirm how Jabbar came into possession of the vehicle.

Other potential explosives were located in the French Quarter, too, the FBI said. Bomb technicians are working to determine if the devices are viable.

New Orleans police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters the driver was “was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did”.

Witnesses have described the incident as “something out of a horror movie”.

Hotels have been evacuated with dozens of people displaced, and the public has been asked to stay away from the area.

Those injured in the attack have been taken to five hospitals across the city. Supt Kirkpatrick told reporters they do not know how many victims are tourists, but “it seems the majority are locals”.

President Joe Biden — who is in Wilmington, Delaware, where he attended a family wedding Tuesday night — has been briefed on the incident.

“The FBI is taking the lead in the investigation and is investigating this incident as an act of terrorism… I am grateful for the brave and swift response of local law enforcement in preventing even greater death and injury,” he said in a statement.

President-elect Donald Trump said his incoming administration would help New Orleans as it investigates and recovers from what he called an act of pure evil.

The attack came just hours before the kickoff of the All-State Sugar Bowl, a college football quarterfinal held in the city’s Caesars Superdome, which draws hordes of fans from across the country.

The NFL, which is set to hold the Super Bowl in New Orleans in February, said in a statement it was “deeply saddened” by the attack.

More to come.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Orleans #attack #Driver #truck #ploughed #Years #crowd #killing #identified

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up