An Army veteran who was “hell-bent” on killing as many people as possible drove a rented pickup truck around a parked police car serving as a barricade and plowed through a crowd of New
Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, leaving at least 15 dead and injuring dozens of others early Wednesday, city and federal officials said.
After mowing down numerous people over a three-block stretch on the famed thoroughfare while firing shots into the crowd,
the suspect — identified by sources as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42 —
allegedly got out of the truck wielding an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers
, law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told ABC News. Officers returned fire, killing Jabbar, a U.S.-born citizen from Texas, sources said.
At least two police officers were injured, one by gunfire and the other when the officer was pinned by the truck, authorities said.
Althea Duncan, assistant special agent in charge of FBI New Orleans field office, said investigators do not believe Jabbar acted alone.
“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” Duncan said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
“We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates.
That’s why we need the public’s help.
We are asking if anybody had any interaction with Shamsud-Din Jabbar in the last 72 hours that you contact us.”
Addressing what he called “this heinous act” in a brief appearance before reporters Sunday night at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland,
President Biden said that the FBI told him that “
mere hours before the attack, [Jabbar] posted videos on social media indicating that he’s inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.”