A US Army veteran with an ISIS flag on his truck has swerved around makeshift barriers and ploughed into New Orleans' crowded French Quarter on New Year's Day, killing at least 15 people, and police are searching for others who may have been involved in placing explosive devices in the area.
Some 35 people were injured in the attack at 3:15 am (0915 GMT), near the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Streets, a historic tourist destination known for its music and bars where crowds were celebrating the new year. After ramming the crowd with his pickup truck, the driver was shot dead in a gunfight with police, officials said.
President Joe Biden said that the FBI found videos that the driver had posted to social media hours before the attack in which he said he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressed a desire to kill.
"The FBI also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that it is inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill, desire to kill," Biden said.
'The investigation at a preliminary stage' - President Joe Biden says New Orleans attacker posted video beforehand indicating he was inspired by ISIS. - AP
"This man was trying to run over as many people as he could," Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a televised press conference. "He was bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did."
Police identified the suspect as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, an army veteran and US citizen from Texas. Officials said the death toll could rise as some of those injured were in critical condition.
Surveillance video captured three men and a woman placing an improvised explosive device in the French Quarter, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin, but federal officials did not immediately confirm that detail and it wasn’t clear who the individuals in the video were or what connection they may have had to the attack.
The bulletin said investigators found multiple improvised explosive devices, including two pipe bombs that were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation.
The victims included a mother of a 4-year-old who had just moved into a new apartment after getting a promotion at work, a New York financial employee and accomplished student athlete who was visiting home for the holidays, and an 18-year-old aspiring nurse from Mississippi.
Man who left New Orleans scene an hour before driver ploughed through crowd is 'very grateful'. – AP
Kirkpatrick said the driver, who swerved around barricades, fired at police and struck two police officers from the vehicle after it crashed. The officers were in stable condition, she added.
"We know the perpetrator has been killed," said New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas.
"As we search for a motive, remember there is no making sense of evil."
An ISIS flag was found in the vehicle, prompting an investigation into possible links to terrorist organizations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
"We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates," FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan told a press conference.
Asked how many potential accomplices the FBI was looking into, she said it was a "range of suspects" and urged anyone who had contact with Jabbar in the previous 72 hours to contact authorities.
Investigators found weapons and a potential explosive device in the vehicle, and two other potential explosive devices were found in the French Quarter and rendered safe, the FBI said.
An aerial view of the attack site. – AP
Public records show Jabbar worked in real estate in Houston. In a promotional video posted four years ago, Jabbar describes himself as born and raised in Beaumont, a city about 80 miles (130 km) east of Houston, who spent 10 years in the US military as a human resources and IT specialist.
Jabbar deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, the official said.
Before serving in the Army, Jabbar enlisted in the Navy in August 2004 under a delayed entry program but was discharged a month later, a Navy official said in a statement.
Jabbar said the military was where he learned the importance of great service and to take matters seriously.
"So I've taken those skills and applied them to my career as a real estate agent, where I feel like what really sets me apart from other agents is my ability to be able to one be a fierce negotiator," he said in In a promotional video for a real estate business posted to YouTube in 2020.
The suspect in New Orleans vehicle attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who served in the US Army. - FBI via Reuters
Duncan of the FBI said she believed he was honourably discharged from the US Army, which did not immediately respond to a request to confirm his service record.
More than 300 officers were on duty at the time of the incident, police said. The city hosts the Sugar Bowl, a classic American college football game, each New Year's Day, and will also be the site of the NFL Super Bowl on February 9.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the incident a terrorist attack.
'Aggressively running down every lead' - FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan addressing the media. - AP
The FBI said in a statement that it was investigating the incident as an act of terrorism.
If confirmed as IS-inspired, the attack would represent the deadliest such assault on US soil in years. FBI officials have repeatedly warned about an elevated international terrorism threat due to the Israel-Hamas war.
In the last year, the FBI has disrupted other potential attacks inspired by the militant group, including in October when agents arrested an Afghan man in Oklahoma accused of plotting an Election Day attack targeting large crowds.
Police conduct an investigation at the scene. – AP
“For those people who don’t believe in objective evil, all you have to do is look at what happened in our city early this morning," Republican Louisiana Senator John Kennedy said.
"If this doesn’t trigger the gag reflex of every American, every fair-minded American, I’ll be very surprised.”
"From what I understand, there is a potential that other suspects could be involved in this, and all hands on deck on determining who these individuals are and finding them," New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno told 4WWLTV.
"Information that I received is that this individual was in full military gear, that he is apparently not local, and that he was prepared, and that he was very prepared to inflict horrific pain on the people on Bourbon Street," Moreno said.
Police officers sit on horses near the site of the attack. – Reuters
'Horrific act'
Verified video taken by an onlooker shows at least two twisted bodies in the street, with one of them lying in what appears to be a puddle of blood. A bystander is seen kneeling over one of the bodies as a group of uniformed military personnel in green uniforms and carrying firearms runs past.
A couple told CBS News that they heard crashing noises coming from down the street and then saw a white truck slam through a barricade "at a high rate of speed".
Whit Davis, 22, told CNN he was leaving a nightclub at the time of the attack.
“Everyone started yelling and screaming and running to the back, and then we basically went into lockdown for a little bit and then it calmed down but they wouldn’t let us leave,” Davis said.
“When they finally let us out of the club, police waved us where to walk and were telling us to get out of the area fast. I saw a few dead bodies they couldn’t even cover up and tons of people receiving first aid.”
Zion Parsons, 18, told NOLA.com that he and his two friends were leaving a Bourbon Street eatery when they heard a commotion and saw a white car barreling toward them.
He said he dodged the vehicle, but one of his friends was struck, with her leg "twisted and contorted above and around her back."
An officer guards a police barricade at the scene. – AP
"You can just look and see bodies, just bodies of people, just bleeding, broken bones," he said.
The injured were taken to at least five hospitals, according to NOLA Ready, the city's emergency preparedness department.
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy said on CNN that despite the attack, law enforcement in New Orleans was ready for the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday night.
"The Superdome has been locked down," he said.
In response to vehicle attacks on pedestrian malls around the world, New Orleans was in the process of removing and replacing the steel barriers known as bollards that restrict vehicle traffic in the Bourbon Street pedestrian zone. The project's status was unclear at the time of the attack.
Construction began in November 2024 and was scheduled to continue through February 2025, according to a city website.
Audio reveals first responders’ reactions to truck ramming crowd in New Orleans. - Broadcastify / Louisiana Statewide Interoperational Coordination via Reuters
Last month in Germany, a 50-year-old man was charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder after police said he ploughed a car through crowds at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing five people and injuring scores.
Biden called the city's mayor to offer full federal support.
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” Biden said in a statement.
“There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
ISIS - also called Islamic State or ISIL - is a Muslim militant group that once imposed a reign of terror over millions of people in Iraq and Syria until it collapsed following a sustained military campaign by a US-led coalition.
FBI officials have repeatedly warned about an elevated international terrorism threat due to the Israel-Hamas war. In the last year, the agency has disrupted other potential attacks, including in October when it arrested an Afghan man in Oklahoma for an alleged Election Day plot targeting large crowds.
'Anger and frustration,' Biden speaks about deadly New Year's attack in New Orleans. – AP
Vehicle attacks on pedestrians increasingly common around the world
A new chapter in mass attacks began in Nice, France, in 2016, when a man drove a heavy truck into crowds of Bastille Day celebrants. Since then vehicle attacks have become increasingly common, though only some have been declared acts of terrorism. The New Year's Day attack in New Orleans, as revellers ushered in 2025, was the latest attack.
Vehicle attacks have become increasingly common around the world. The US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency calls vehicle attacks "a significant threat in the United States" and provides a "Vehicle Incident Prevention and Mitigation Security Guide."
Below is a list in reverse chronological order of some high-profile incidents in which a vehicle was used to ram into crowds, harming and killing bystanders.
Magdeburg, Germany
Last month in Germany, a 50-year-old man was charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder after police said he plowed a car through crowds at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing five people and injuring scores.
The suspect, who was in custody, is a psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric who has lived in Germany for almost two decades.
Zhuhai, China
A driver in November rammed his car into a crowd at a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, killing 35 people and severely injuring 43 in one of the deadliest attacks in contemporary Chinese history.
Police said the 62-year-old driver, with the surname Fan, had been captured and was hospitalized for injuries.
Waukesha, Wisconsin
A Wisconsin man was convicted in 2022 of killing six people and injuring dozens when he drove his SUV into a Christmas parade near Milwaukee in November 2021. Darrell Brooks was accused of deliberately driving his sport utility vehicle through police barricades and ploughing into crowds of people participating in the annual event.
London, Ontario, Canada
A 22-year-old self-confessed white nationalist ran over and killed four members of a Muslim family with his pick-up truck in June 2021 in London, about 190 kilometres (120 miles) from Toronto. In 2023 Nathaniel Veltman was convicted of first-degree murder. The judge in the case called it an act of terrorism.
Toronto
In 2018, a man ploughed a rented van into dozens of people in downtown Toronto, killing 11 people and injuring 15.
Alek Minassian was found guilty in 2021 of murdering 10 people and attempting to murder 16. One of the 16 later died in connection with injuries suffered in the attack, and a judge said she considered the woman the 11th murder victim.
New York
In October 2017, a 34-year-old Uzbek national ploughed a rented truck onto a Manhattan bike path, killing eight people and injuring 11, including a Belgian woman who lost her legs. Sayfullo Saipov, who had moved to the United States in 2010, was convicted in 2023 of murder with a goal of joining Islamic State, which the United States designates a terrorist organization.
Barcelona
In August 2017, a 22-year-old man rammed a car into crowds in Barcelona on Las Ramblas, a popular tourist spot, killing 13 people. The man, Younes Abouyaaqoub, fled the scene on foot before later stabbing a man to death and taking his car to escape. Abouyaaqoub was shot dead by police a few days later near Barcelona.
New York
In May 2017, A US Navy veteran rammed his car into pedestrians in Manhattan's crowded Times Square, killing a woman and injuring 22 people. A jury in 2022 accepted the insanity defence offered by Richard Rojas.
London
In March 2017, a car sped across Westminster Bridge, mowing down pedestrians just outside parliament, killing four people and injuring dozens. The driver, 52-year-old Khalid Masood, a British-born convert to Islam, then fatally stabbed a police officer before he was shot dead.
Berlin
In December 2016, Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, hijacked a truck, killed the driver and then ploughed it into a crowded Berlin Christmas market, killing 11 more people and injuring dozens. Four days later he was killed in a shoot-out with police in Italy.
Nice, France
In 2016, a gunman drove a heavy truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the coastal city of Nice, killing 86 people and injuring scores more in an attack claimed by Islamic State. The attacker was identified as a Tunisian-born Frenchman.