New Orleans attack: How the deadly New Year’s Day rampage unfolded

Fourteen people were killed and about 30 others injured after a vehicle was driven at speed down a street in New Orleans’ popular French Quarter. The suspect has been identified by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US army veteran, who was shot dead by police.

Just hours into 2025, a Ford pick-up truck was driven at speed down a street in New Orleans, leaving 14 people dead.

About 30 others were injured in the attack, which took place in the city’s busy French Quarter as people celebrated the New Year.

The FBI has identified the suspect as US army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, and said it is investigating the attack as an “act of terrorism”. Jabbar was shot dead by police after the attack.

The bureau revealed that an Islamic State flag was attached to the truck during the attack.

Here is how it unfolded.

The incident occurred at about 3.15am local time (9.15am in the UK) on the corner of Canal Street and Bourbon Street as people were celebrating the beginning of 2025.

Anne Kirkpatrick, superintendent of New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), said the driver manoeuvred around barricades and sped through a crowd of pedestrians.

After crashing the vehicle, he got out and fired a weapon at police officers, two of whom were hit and injured.

“It was very intentional behaviour. This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could. It was not a DUI [driving under the influence] situation,” Ms Kirkpatrick said on Wednesday.

“He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

A handgun and an AR-style rifle were recovered from the vehicle by authorities, according to a law enforcement official.

Eyewitness Jimmy Cothran said he heard gunshots and a “lot of commotion” in the area, and ducked into a nightclub in an attempt to avoid it.

He said he ran upstairs to a balcony, where he described the harrowing scene as “unbelievable”.

Improvised explosive devices

Investigators also found what appeared to be an improvised explosive device (IED) in the vehicle, along with another device elsewhere in the city’s French Quarter.

In a news conference on Thursday, Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counter-terrorism division, said the latest evidence suggested the attacker acted alone.

The bureau has received more than 400 tips from members of the public and more than 1,000 agents and officers have been working on the case.

What we know about the suspect

Shamsud-Din Jabbar is a US army veteran from Texas.

He was on active duty from 2007 to 2015, then in the army reserves from 2015 to 2020. In 2009, he was deployed to Afghanistan. He was a staff sergeant when he left with an honourable discharge in 2020.

The same year, he appeared in a promotional YouTube video talking about his real estate business. In the footage, he said he served in the military for 10 years as a human resource and IT specialist.

Jabbar was arrested in Texas in 2002 for theft, classed as a misdemeanour, and he was fined $100 by a court.

He was also arrested in the same state in 2005 for driving with an invalid licence, also classed as a misdemeanour, and was fined $100 by a court.

Police were pictured searching a house in Houston, where Jabbar is believed to have lived.

Civil records show Jabbar was married twice, with his first marriage ending in 2012, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reported.

Activity before the attack

Jabbar posted five videos on his social media accounts before the rampage, the FBI said.

In his first video, Jabbar said he was initially planning to harm his own family and friends, but was concerned news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and disbelievers”, Mr Raia said.

Jabbar also stated that he had joined Islamic State (IS) “before this summer”, and provided a will, the counter-terrorism investigator added.

He also posted several videos on the evening of 31 December proclaiming his support for IS, before carrying out the attack.

The FBI has been reviewing two laptops found at Jabbar’s home during a search, as well as three mobile phones.

Possible links to Las Vegas explosion

Just hours after the attack in New Orleans, a rented Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas.

One person inside the vehicle died and seven others suffered minor injuries.

FBI officials and Las Vegas sheriffs on Thursday said they believe the man driving the rented car was 37-year-old US army soldier Matthew Livelsberger, from Colorado, although this was still to be officially confirmed through DNA.

Speaking during a news conference in Las Vegas, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said his force was “not ruling out” links between the two incidents – despite the FBI earlier appearing to downplay any possible connection, saying there was “no definitive link” at this stage during the separate news conference in New Orleans.

“It’s an interesting thing in these kind of investigations that, if these turn out to be simply similarities, [they are] very strange similarities to have,” Mr McMahill said.

Both Jabbar and Livelsberger had served at a base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a centre in North Carolina that is home to special forces command.

Law enforcement officers were also looking into the fact both men used the Turo car app to rent the vehicles involved in both incidents.

Victims named

A teenage girl who wanted to be a nurse and a graduate of Princeton University were among the victims of the attack.

Ni’Kyra Dedeaux, 18, died after being struck by the vehicle while celebrating the start of 2025 with her friend Zion Parsons while Martin “Tiger” Bech, a Princeton University graduate, was on Bourbon Street when he was hit, his mother told NBC.

British man Edward Pettifer, 31, was named by the Metropolitan Police as one of the victims.

Matthew Tenedorio, 25, was shot dead by the attacker after he left the truck and opened fire, his mother said, while Nicole Perez, a single mother to a four-year-old son, Reggie Hunter, 37, from Baton Rouge in Louisiana, and Auburn University graduate Drew Dauphin were also among the victims.

What has Joe Biden said?

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday night that the nation grieves with the people of New Orleans in the aftermath of the attack.

“We want to thank our brave responders and law enforcement personnel who stopped the attacker in his tracks before he killed or injured even more people,” he said.

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President-elect Donald Trump said in a statement that his incoming administration would “fully support the city of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil”.

Posting on Truth Social, he said: “Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.”

Meanwhile, Louisiana attorney general Liz Murrill said she will ensure the victims and their families “get justice for this appalling act”.

Louisiana governor Jeff Landry said in a post on X that he was “praying for all the victims and first responders on scene”.

He called the incident a “horrific act of violence”.

French Quarter and Sugar Bowl game

Bourbon Street is a popular and historic tourist area in New Orleans’ French Quarter.

The area is filled with bars and restaurants and is frequently filled with pedestrians.

As well as the New Year crowds, the city was also set to host the Allstate Sugar Bowl college American football game at the nearby Caesars Superdome later in the day. It was postponed to Thursday.