Photos show terrorist walking through French Quarter an hour before attack

By Greg LaRose
Contributing Writer

(lailluminator.com) — The FBI released photos Thursday obtained from surveillance video that show Shamsud-Din Jabbar walking in the French Quarter about an hour before he steered a pickup truck onto Bourbon Street, killing at least 14 revelers and injuring 37 more in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Jabbar, a 42-year-old Army veteran and tech service worker, is seen at 2:03 a.m. Wednesday walking on Dauphine Street near the intersection of Governor Nicholls Street, wearing eye glasses, blue jeans, a black shirt and a tan overcoat. His location is a block over and five blocks down from the 700 block of Bourbon Street, where the FBI say video shows Jabbar placing a rolling ice chest with an improvised explosive device inside.

Police found a similar device inside Jabbar’s truck after killing him in a shootout in the 300 block of Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. Two New Orleans officers were wounded in the exchange.

Another cooler with an undetonated homemade bomb inside was found two blocks from the first. Bomb squad personnel safely disarmed the device later Wednesday morning.

Liz Murrill, Louisiana’s attorney general, said Wednesday one of the coolers was placed between a Louisiana State Police vehicle and a state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries unit.

Materials used to make explosive devices were found in a short-term rental house about 2 miles away from the attack site. Investigators believe Jabbar arrived at the address earlier Tuesday, having rented the pickup Monday in Houston.

A small fire was reported at the house following the incident on Bourbon Street, with authorities describing it as a failed attempt to destroy evidence. In addition to what was discovered at the home, the FBI said three cellphones and two laptop computers were recovered and are being examined for evidence.

Portions of the French Quarter that were shut down following the attack early Wednesday were reopened Thursday afternoon, just as the Sugar Bowl college football playoff kicked off at the Superdome just minutes away. The contest brought thousands of fans to the city, many of whom took part in New Year’s Eve festivities in downtown New Orleans.

This article originally published in the January 6, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.