‘I just dropped my phone’: New Orleans attack suspect’s brother speaks out amid reports he initially planned to kill entire family

The truck attack in New Orleanscarried out by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, which killed 15 people and injured dozens, terrified the country’s population, as the police suspected it was a terrorist act. The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, was a resident of Houston, Texas, who drove a pickup truck through the crowds of Bourbon Street, New Orleans, in the early hours of January 1, as people were enjoying the New Year. celebrations.

According to police, Jabbar rented the van from Turo, a peer-to-peer car rental company, and drove from Houston to New Orleans. On the way to New Orleans, he recorded several videos and posted them on Facebook. In the videos, Jabbar is seen talking about his personal life, his divorce, and his initial plan to kill his entire family. In one of the videos he was seen saying that he joined ISIS. Upon investigation, the FBI also found an ISIS flag inside his truck and suspected the attack could be an act of terrorism.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s family speaks out amid reports of his initial plan to kill the entire family.

Although the FBI initially suspected Jabbar’s attack was an act of terrorism, on Thursday they confirmed that Jabbar acted alone in this attack.

“We do not assess at this time that anyone else is involved in this attack except Shamsud-Din Jabbar,” said the FBI’s Christopher Raia.

Jabbar reportedly shared a total of five videos on Facebook between 1:30 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. just before his attack on Bourbon Street. In one of the videos, Jabbar was seen talking about his initial plans to invite his family and friends to a gathering and kill them. However, he later changed his plans because he thought that “the new headlines would not focus on the war between believers and unbelievers.”

After driving into the crowd, kill 15 people and injuring dozens, Jabbar got out of the vehicle and opened fire on police, wounding two officers. However, Jabbar was eventually shot dead in the shootout.

Jabbar’s younger brother, Abdur Rahim Jabbar IV, said the news was equally incredible and devastating for his family. He described Jabbar as a calm, loving, funny, compassionate, intelligent and charismatic individual, and stated that he admired him.

Abdur said, describing his response to the news of Jabbar’s attack:

“I just dropped my phone, crawled into the corner and started crying.”

Jabbar was an Army veteran, serving in the US Army as an IT and Resource Specialist until 2015 and then serving in the US Army Reserve until 2020. He had also worked for Deloitte in the past . Jabbar was reportedly sued in 2012 by his first wife for child support, and his second wife obtained a restraining order against him in 2020 after their divorce.

During his second divorce, Jabbar reportedly faced a financial crisis. According to him, in 2020 his mortgage exceeded $27,000, overdue and in imminent danger of foreclosure. During this time, Jabbar’s business was declining and he lost almost $28,000 in 2021.

According to Abdur, Jabbar never revealed his struggles with his family in detail and claimed that this could be the reason for his strange behavior over the past few months.

“Despite his recent actions, this was not a representation of who he was as a person, as a human being, as a father, son or brother, and in no way was it a representation of what it really meant to be Muslim,” Abdur said. and described having no idea of ​​his brother’s connection to ISIS.

Abdur further expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and hoped that people would understand that the Jabbar family also lost a loved one. He stated,

“Our hearts, prayers and thoughts are with those families, the victims and those who witnessed this tragedy. This was not the man I knew. He is no representation of Islam or Muslims or the Muslim community.”

The FBI further investigated Jabbar’s home and found “chemical precursors” and are currently investigating the case to determine the exact motive for Jabbar’s attack.