New Orleans terror suspect ‘wasn’t a violent person’ but got ‘radicalised’, says half-brother
3 January 2025, 22:20 | Updated: 3 January 2025, 22:26
The half-brother of the suspect in the New Orleans terror attack said his actions were ‘completely out of his character’.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Police identified 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, a US citizen from Texas and a US army veteran, as the prime suspect in the case on Wednesday.
Fifteen people have died and at least 35 injured after the attacker drove into a large crowd in New Orleans, Louisiana, in what is being treated as a terrorist incident.
“This is completely out of his character,” his younger half-brother Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said.
“You would never think he would do anything like this. He was just the calmest, most gentle person you could possibly know.”
Read more: New Orleans attack: Everything we know about suspect Shamsud Din Jabbar
Speaking to the Houston Chronicle, a newspaper from his native Texas, Abdur-Rahim said his family was shocked by what his brother did.
“He wasn’t a violent person,” Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said. “He wouldn’t lose his temper or get violent, angry, physical like that.”
He said his brother’s actions did not reflect he Muslim faith, and instead showed signs of extremism and radicalisation.
“I want to be clear, even though he claimed to be a Muslim, this type of behavior is more extremist behavior. This is radicalization,” he said.
“I know they see his name, they see our name. There’s already a stigma around Muslims — that these are the type of things we do. But I want to be clear. It’s not.”
Jabbar was in a Ford pick-up truck, rented using the same Turo rental app used by a Cybertruck bomber in Las Vegas hours later.
The FBI has now said the suspect was fatally shot after exiting his video and opening fire on the public, later engaging in a gunfight with police.
President Biden said Jabbar expressed a “desire to kill” in videos posted on social media.Addressing the nation, Biden said the FBI had briefed him on the attack.
The suspect uploaded videos to social media "mere hours before the attack" indicating that he was inspired by IS and expressing a "desire to kill", Biden said.
Suspected improvised explosive devices were also found in the area and a long gun with a "suppressive device" on it, acting as a silencer, was also recovered.
42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabber was an Army veteran and US citizen from Texas.
A flag associated with the Islamic State (IS) group was found in the vehicle he was driving and the FBI said it was investigating what affiliations Jabbar may have had with terrorist groups.
