New Orleans attack latest: Suspect's travel to Egypt under investigation | Live updates

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Last updated: Saturday, January 4, 2025 11:43AM GMT
Timeline of suspect Shamsud-Dim Jabbar's New Orleans attack
In the wake of the deadly car-ramming attack on New Orleans' bustling Bourbon Street, federal investigators have released a timeline of events surrounding the New Year's Day incident.

NEW ORLEANS -- Law enforcement agencies are expanding their investigation into the New Year's ramming attack on New Orleans' Bourbon Street which killed 14 people and injured dozens more in the early hours of Wednesday.

City and federal officials said an Army veteran -- identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42 -- was "hell-bent" on killing as many people as possible. The suspect drove a pickup truck around a parked police car serving as a barricade and plowed into crowds of revelers, officials said.

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025.
Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

The alleged attacker then exited the damaged vehicle armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement officials said. Jabbar was also armed with a handgun, sources told ABC News.

Officers returned fire, killing Jabbar, a U.S.-born citizen from Texas, sources said.

Get the latest live updates here.

WPVI logo
Jan 03, 2025, 5:32 PM

FBI shares timeline of New Orleans attack investigation

The FBI shared a timeline of events on Thursday of Shamsud-Din Jabbar's movements leading up to the attack and the investigation.

Before summer 2024: Shamsud-Din Jabbar allegedly joins ISIS

Dec 30: Shamsud-Din Jabbar picks up rented Ford F15 in Houston, Texas

Dec 31: Jabbar drives rented truck from Houston to New Orleans, Louisiana. The drive is approximately five and a half hours, spanning over 340 miles.

Jan 1 at 1:29 a.m. CT: Jabbar posts five timestamped videos to an online platform between 1:29 a.m. and 3:02 a.m., where he allegedly proclaims his support for ISIS.

In the first video, he explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the "war between the believers and the disbelievers."

This is also when he states that he joined ISIS before the summer.

He also provided a last will and testament.

Jan 1 at 2:03 a.m. CT: Surveillance footage shows Jabbar as he walked along Dauphine Street near Governor Nicholls Street. He is dressed in a light brown long coat, a dark-colored button-down shirt, blue jeans and what appears to be brown dress shoes. The FBI says Jabbar is seen placing devices inside coolers near Bourbon Street before the attack. They believe he acted along and changed clothes, law enforcement officials say.

Jan 1 at 3:02 a.m. CT: Jabbar posts his last of the five videos.

Jan 1 at 3:15 a.m. CT: Jabbar opened fire after ramming pedestrians on Bourbon Street.

Jan 1: Following the attack, authorities recovered two improvised explosive devices left in coolers in the Bourbon Street area, the FBI said. Those were the only devices recovered and both were rendered safe.

Jan 1: In the aftermath of the deadly incident, family members and friends have begun identifying the 14 people killed on Bourbon Street.

Jan 2: Jabbar's divorces and financial difficulties come to light. The records also show that after his military service, Jabbar worked for Deloitte as he aimed to grow his own fledgling real estate business.

Jan 2: Bourbon Street crime scene turned back over to City of New Orleans.

Jan 2: Bomb-making materials linked to the suspect were recovered by FBI agents and local law enforcement at Jabbar's last known residence in Houston, Texas, sources confirmed to ABC News. The items found were also referred to as "precursor chemicals" by agents in the field, sources said. The items were found when agents executed a search warrant at Jabbar's home in the small community of Greenspoint, in north Houston.

ByLuke Barr ABCNews logo
Jan 03, 2025, 10:53 PM GMT

Suspect set fire in rental property he was staying in

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms concluded that Shamsud-Din Jabbar set a small fire in the hallway of the property in New Orleans he rented using "strategically placed accelerants throughout the house in his effort to destroy it and other evidence of his crime," according to an investigative update from the FBI and ATF.

"After Jabbar left the residence, the fire burned to a point that it extinguished itself, prior to spreading to other rooms," according to the statement released Friday night. "The ATF investigation revealed that when the NOFD arrived at the scene, the fire was smoldering, allowing for the recovery of evidence, including pre-cursors for bomb making material and a privately made device suspected of being a silencer for a rifle."

Authorities recovered a transmitter that was to be used to detonate two explosive devices placed in coolers in Bourbon Street, President Joe Biden said Thursday,

All of the evidence has been recovered from the rental property, including bomb making materials, according to the FBI and ATF.

"FBI special agents located similar materials at the search of Jabbar's home on Crescent Peak Drive in Houston, Texas," they said.

The transmitter, along with two firearms connected to Jabbar, is being transported to the FBI laboratory for additional testing as well as clothing and shell casings from the truck, according to the FBI and ATF.

ABCNews logo
Jan 03, 2025, 9:02 PM GMT

Suspect traveled to Egypt in 2023, half-brother says

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspected Bourbon Street attacker, traveled to Egypt in 2023 for about a month, his half-brother told ABC News.

Abdur Jabbar, 24, said Shamsud went to Egypt alone, telling his family he was going "because it was cheap and beautiful." His half-brother provided a photo to ABC News showing gifts Shamsud brought back from the trip, including three rings, tea and a wooden box.

Law enforcement officials tell ABC News the suspect's foreign travel is a part of the ongoing investigation.

Investigators, according to multiple sources, are digging in to determine what the attacker did during his travel in Egypt, why he went and who he interacted with while there. Critical to the probe is whether Din Jabbar had been radicalized prior to the travel or if the travel marked the start of his radicalization.

"This next most important phase of the investigation is to find out how that radicalization happened and if it happened on that trip. That' s priority No. 1," Orleans Parish DA Jason Williams told ABC News.

Officials said the first 24 hours after the ramming attack were occupied by a feverish effort to determine whether there were additional suspects on the loose or if Din Jabbar worked with accomplices.

Since Thursday, investigators have been focused on piecing together his path to radicalization and the events that led up to his decision to attack the Bourbon Street.

"The picture is getting less pixelated," one investigator explained. "But it's slow going."

ABCNews logo
Jan 03, 2025, 2:37 PM GMT

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden to travel to New Orleans

On Monday, January 6, the President and First Lady will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana.

The President and First Lady will grieve with the families and community members impacted by the tragic attack on January 1 and meet with officials on the ground.

KTRK logo
Jan 03, 2025, 2:49 PM GMT

FBI releases new 'seeking information' poster about Shamsud-Din Jabbar

The FBI has created a new page where the public can report information about Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Orleans attack.

The page includes new photos of Jabbar captured in the early morning hours of New Year's day, along with a photo of one of the ice chest IED's placed on Bourbon Street.

The FBI has released a new "seeking information" poster which shows Shamsud-Din Jabbar walking around in different clothes and a picture of the cooler.
The FBI has released a new "seeking information" poster which shows Shamsud-Din Jabbar walking around in different clothes and a picture of the cooler.

The FBI is seeking information from the public regarding about Jabbar's movements and the coolers.

The photos are from surveillance footage from 2:03 a.m. CST on January 1, which shows Jabbar as he walked along Dauphine Street near Governor Nicholls Street.

The footage shows Jabbar dressed in a light brown long coat, a dark-colored button-down shirt, blue jeans and what appears to be brown dress shoes.

The FBI is also releasing a photo of one of the coolers containing an IED, which was placed by Jabbar near the intersection of Bourbon and Orleans Street.

The FBI has set up a Digital Media Tipline. Anyone with information, photos, and/or video footage of the incident, Jabbar, or the two coolers containing IEDs should submit them to the FBI here.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI's Toll-Free tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). You may also contact your local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or you can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.