This undated handout image released by the FBI on January 1, 2025 shows a photo of late New Orleans attack suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
– |AFP|Getty Images
A U.S. Army veteran from Texas drove to Louisiana and deliberately plowed into New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, recording a video to his family during the drive in which he talked about his plan to kill them and told them He has joined the “Islamic State”.
“I wanted to record this message for my family,” Shamsuddin-Jabbar says in the video. “I want you to know that I joined ISIS earlier this year.”
Then he added: “I don’t want you to think I spared you willingly.”
He told his family that he first wanted to organize a “celebration” for them so that everyone could “witness the murder of the apostates,” an apparent reference to their killing.
A senior law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the contents of the videos, which were first reported by The New York Times, to NBC News. NBC News has not independently reviewed the films.
Authorities said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 42, drove a rental truck from Houston to New Orleans on New Year’s Eve and posted videos online along the way. When he arrived on New Orleans’ famed Bourbon Street, he planted two IEDs, then returned to his truck, stormed into revelers around 3:15 a.m.., killing Police kill 14 people in shootout.
Experts say the details about Kareem fit a typical pattern. Veterans may be radicalized into violence.
In the years leading up to Wednesday’s attack, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went through his third divorce, racked up massive debt and lost his corporate job. Divorce court records from January 2022 show he faced tens of thousands of dollars in business losses and credit card debt, as well as more than $27,000 in past-due mortgage payments. By August of that year, he had just $2,012 left in his bank account, according to documents in the case.
While experts may not be surprised, Jabbar’s brutality has baffled his family, friends and colleagues, who describe him as kind and humble.
“This is a complete loss for everyone,” Jabbar’s half-brother, 24-year-old Abdur-Rahim Jabbar IV, said in a statement. Surprise and shock. Interview this week.
It’s unclear when Kareem first became attracted to ISIS. Abdul-Rahim Jabbar said their father was Muslim and Shamsuddin-Jabbar’s mother was Christian and converted to Christianity after their marriage. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is open about his Muslim faith but doesn’t discuss it in a forceful way.
He said the two rarely discussed religion, although they did discuss the Gaza war last year. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar expressed dissatisfaction with the situation, calling it “genocide on both sides.”
After his latest divorce, Jabbar appears to have become more religious, although he has never discussed ISIS or any radical ideology. His half-brother described him as “trying to find himself”.
In early 2024, Jabbar posted audio messages on SoundCloud, one of which was titled “The Voice of Satan,” in which he denounced music as the “voice of Satan,” claiming that music caused people to engage in prohibited behaviors such as drug use and violence.
