"I just dropped my phone"—New Orleans attack suspect's brother speaks out amid reports he initially planned to kill the entire family

The truck attack in New Orleans, carried out by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, which killed 15 people and injured dozens, terrified the people of the country as police were suspecting the attack to be a terrorist act. The suspect, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was a resident of Houston, Texas, who drove a pickup truck into the crowds of Bourbon Street, New Orleans, in the early morning of January 1, while people were enjoying New Year's celebrations.

According to the police, Jabbar rented the pickup truck from Turo, a peer-to-peer car rental company, and drove from Houston to New Orleans. On his way to New Orleans, he recorded multiple videos and posted them on Facebook. In the videos, Jabbar was 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 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 to be an act of terrorism, on Thursday they confirmed that Jabbar acted alone in this attack.

"We do not assess at this point that anyone else is involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar," Christopher Raia of the FBI stated.

According to the reports, Jabbar shared a total of five videos on Facebook between 1:30 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. right 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 get-together and kill them. However, he later changed his plans as he thought 'the new headlines would not focus on the war between the believers and the disbelievers.'

After driving into the crowds, killing 15 people and injuring dozens, Jabbar got off the vehicle and opened gunfire at the police, injuring two police officers. However, Jabbar was ultimately shot to death in the gunfight.

Jabbar's younger brother, Abdur Rahim Jabbar IV, said that the news was equally unbelievable and devastating for their family. He described Jabbar as a calm, loving, funny, compassionate, smart, and charismatic individual, stating that he looked up to him.

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

"I just dropped my phone and crawled into a corner somewhere and started crying."

Jabbar was an Army veteran, serving in the U.S. Army as a resource and IT specialist till 2015 and later served in the U.S. Army Reserve till 2020. He had also worked for Deloitte in the past. As per the reports, Jabbar was sued in 2012 by his first wife for child support, and his second wife took out a restraining order against him in 2020 after their divorce.

During his second divorce, Jabbar reportedly faced a crisis regarding his finances. According to him, in 2020 his mortgage was more than $27,000, which was due and in imminent danger of foreclosure. During this time, Jabbar's businesses were declining, and he lost nearly $28,000 in 2021.

According to Abdur, Jabbar never disclosed his struggles in detail with his family and stated this could be the reason for his strange behavior during the past few months.

"Despite his recent actions, this wasn't a depiction of who he was as a person, as a human being, as a father, a son, or a brother, and this was in no way a representation of what it truly meant to be a Muslim," Abdur stated, describing he had no idea of his brother's connection with ISIS.

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

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"Our hearts, prayers, and thoughts go out to those families, the victims, and those who witnessed this tragedy. This wasn’t the man I knew. This isn’t any representation of Islam or Muslims or the Muslim community."

The FBI further investigated Jabbar's house and found "precursor chemicals" and they are currently looking into the case to determine the exact motive of Jabbar's attack.

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