From US Army to Isis: FBI seeks clues into New Orleans attacker’s radicalisation

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texas native and US Army veteran, killed 14 in New Orleans after pledging support for Islamic State

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Shamsud-Din Jabbar served in the US Army as a human resources specialist and an IT specialist from 2007 to 2015, and then in the Army Reserve until 2020. File photo: Facebook via Reuters

Published: 2:44pm, 3 Jan 2025Updated: 2:46pm, 3 Jan 2025

As investigators learn more about the man who pledged allegiance to Islamic State and killed 14 people with a truck on New Year’s Day in New Orleans, a key question remains: how did a veteran and one-time employee of a major corporation become radicalised?

FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said that videos made by Shamsud-Din Jabbar just before the attack showed the 42-year-old Texas native supported Islamic State, claimed to have joined the militant group before last summer and believed in a “war between the believers and nonbelievers”.

While the FBI was looking into his “path to radicalisation”, evidence collected since the attack showed that Jabbar was “100 per cent inspired by Isis,” said Raia, using an acronym for Islamic State.

Jabbar, who authorities said acted alone, was killed in a shoot-out with police.

Video surveillance still images of Shamsud-Din Jabbar before he drove a truck into a crowd in New Orleans. Photo: FBI via Reuters

His half-brother, Abdur Jabbar, said in an interview that Jabbar, who had worked for audit firm Deloitte, abandoned Islam in his 20s or 30s, but had recently renewed his faith.