The FBI has released new images of Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Year’s Day truck attack in New Orleans, from just hours before the attack that killed 14 innocent peopleand injured many others.
In the surveillance footage, a man believed to be Jabbar, 42, can be seen just after 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day, wearing a brown trench coat and walking along Dauphine Street near Governor Nicholls Street in the French Quarter, less than a mile away from the site of the attack on Bourbon and Canal streets.
An hour and 15 minutes later, at 3:15 a.m., Jabbar drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people on bustling Bourbon Street as thousands of people descended on the area for New Year’s celebrations.
After the attack, Jabbar was fatally shot during a shootout with police.
The FBI also released an image of a cooler containing an improvised explosive device (IED) that Jabbar is believed to have placed in the French Quarter prior to the attack.
Authorities believe Jabbar, a military veteran from Texas, acted alone in the rampage, though they initially believed there were co-conspirators. The FBI is soliciting the public for tips regarding the attack, including photos, videos, or information regarding the incident, Jabbar, or the two coolers he placed.
The suspect flew an Islamic State (ISIS) flag from the back of his truck and had pledged allegiance to ISIS in a series of videos posted on Facebook. He had initially intended to target family and friends but changed course because he wanted the media to focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” the FBI said on Thursday.
The victims of the attack included an ex-Princeton University football player, a recent high school grad bound for nursing school, a young mother teaching her daughter how to read and a father of two celebrating the new year with his cousin, among others.
