The New Orleans terrorist, who killed 14 and injured 57 others on New Year’s Day, searched the internet for similar massacres and how to access certain structures before going on his violent rampage.
Horror unfolded after Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, drove a white Ford F-150 into pedestrians ringing in 2025 in New Orleans’ French Quarter around 3.15am local time.
On Tuesday, the FBI disclosed the latest, chilling trove of information about the sickening terror attack – including that hours before Jabbar’s killing spree, he looked up information on the car used in the German Christmas market attack.
On December 20, 2024, an SUV driven by a 50-year-old Saudi doctor named Taleb al-Abdulmohsen allegedly plowed into a crowd at the famous Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing five and injuring approximately 200 civilians.
A ‘review of his electronics’ also showed that Jabbar looked up how to access a balcony on Bourbon Street, information on ‘several shootings in the city’, and details about Mardi Gras, ‘as late as mid-November,’ the agency found.
The FBI also uncovered that Jabbar hopped on a train from Houston, Texas to New Orleans on November 10, returning later that day on a bus.
‘While in the city, Jabbar looked at an apartment for rent on Orleans Street. Just days after his travel he applied to rent the apartment but later told the landlord he changed his mind,’ the FBI said.
The agency continues to probe Jabbar’s motive behind the senseless massacre, sharing that evidence has pointed them to believe that he ‘became a more devout Muslim in 2022.’
New Orleans terrorist Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, looked up what car was used in the German Christmas market attack just hours before he plowed into revelers on New Year’s Day
Jabbar drove a rented F-150 into pedestrians ringing in 2025 in New Orleans’ French Quarter around 3.15am local time that day, killing 14 and injuring 57
‘During this time, Jabbar began isolating himself from society. Around the spring of 2024, Jabbar began following extremist views,’ the FBI noted.
Prior to the attack, Jabbar published a series of videos on social media, pledging his allegiance to ISIS.
An ISIS flag was then found on a flag pole attached to his rented car following the tragic incident.
Last week, New Orleans Field Office Lyonel Myrthil said the FBI is looking into another recent trip Jabbar took to Canada.
‘We have tracked that Jabbar traveled to Cairo, Egypt , from June 22 until July 3 of 2023,’ Myrthil said.
‘A few days later, he flew to Ontario, Canada on July 10 and returned to the U.S. on July 13, 2023.
‘Our agents are getting answers as to where he went, who he met with and how those trysts may or may not tie into his actions here in our city.’
He also visited New Orleans in October, as he was seen walking around with Meta glasses on his face to record a video as he rode through the French Quarter on a bicycle, Myrthil said.
Other footage captured Jabbar wearing a brown coat planting the coolers containing the IEDs on the busy NOLA streets.
The video showed the terrorist riding down the bustling streets where he would later plow down pedestrians with the truck.
‘Jabbar wore a pair of Meta glasses when he conducted the attack on Bourbon Street, but he did not activate the glasses to live stream his actions,’ said Myrthil.
Surveillance footage captured him stopping at gun stores and shops where he purchased one of the ice chests used to hold the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) he planted.
Other footage captured Jabbar wearing a brown coat planting the coolers containing the IEDs on the busy NOLA streets.
He reserved the vehicle used in the attack more than six weeks earlier, on November 14, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press.
Jabbar had suspected bomb-making materials at his Houston home, which contained a workbench in the garage and hazardous materials believed to have been used to make explosive devices, officials familiar with a search conducted there said.
Authorities found crude bombs in the neighborhood of the attack in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage.
Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional.
Jabbar purchased a cooler in Vidor, Texas, hours before the attack and gun oil from a store in Sulphur, Louisiana, investigators said.
He also tried to burn down the house by setting a small fire in a hallway with accelerants but the flames burned out before firefighters arrived.
Jabbar exited the crashed truck wearing a ballistic vest and helmet and fired at police, wounding at least two officers before he was fatally shot by police.
New Orleans police have declined to say how many shots were fired by Jabbar and the officers or whether any bystanders may have been hit, citing the active investigation.
The coroner’s office said all the victims died from blunt force injuries while Jabbar was fatally shot in a firefight with police.
The youngest victim was 18 years old and the oldest was 63. Most victims were in their 20s.
They came from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey and the United Kingdom.
