New Orleans inches toward normalcy while mourning victims of deadly New Year’s rampage
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A mix of law enforcement, street performers and football fans has filled New Orleans’ blocks as the city inches back to normalcy while mourning victims of the deadly New Year’s rampage in which an Army veteran plowed a truck into revelers.
The attack along Bourbon Street killed 14 people, along with the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who officials said was inspired by the Islamic State militant group. Jabbar was fatally shot in a firefight with police after steering his speeding truck around a barricade and plowing into the crowd. About 30 people were injured.
Authorities finished processing the scene Thursday morning, removing the last of the bodies. Bourbon Street — famous worldwide for music, open-air drinking and festive vibes — reopened for business by early afternoon.
On the same block where the attack took place, trombone player and lifelong New Orleanian Jonas Green said it was important for his band to be out there the day after the violence.
The Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which was postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was played Thursday evening.
The Joan of Arc parade in the French Quarter is still scheduled to take place Monday to kick off carnival season ahead of Mardi Gras, said Antoinette de Alteriis, one of the organizers. She said they expect close to its typical crowd in the thousands.
The FBI has continued to hunt for clues about Jabbar but, a day into its investigation, the agency said it was confident he was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star, among others.
The FBI said that hours before the attack, Jabbar, a 42-year-old American citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the famed French Quarter district.
The New Orleans attack plans also included the placement of crude bombs in the neighborhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional.
The FBI recovered a black IS flag from Jabbar’s rented pickup and reviewed five videos posted to Facebook, including one in which he said he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” Raia said.
Jabbar also stated he joined IS before last summer and provided a last will and testament, the FBI said.
Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.
A U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly, said Jabbar traveled to Egypt in 2023, staying in Cairo for a week, before returning to the U.S. and then traveling to Toronto for three days. It was not immediately clear what he did during those travels.
“I never would have thought it’d be him,” he said. “It’s completely unlike him.”
He said his brother had been isolated in the last few years but also had been in touch with him recently and did not see any signs of radicalization.
On Bourbon Street, flowers and candles were arranged as memorials to the victims, while yellow posts were set up on the surrounding blocks. By Thursday night, bouncers danced to music blasting from clubs, tourists posed for photos and a group of street performers preparing to flip over a line of people had no trouble attracting a massive audience.
“I’m glad they cleaned up the streets, but it’s like everything’s forgotten,” he said. “It’s sad.”
