New Orleans January 1 Attack Highlights Importance of Security Measures
By TorchStone Senior Analyst, Ben West
Briefing: January 1 New Orleans Vehicle Attack Highlights Importance of Security Measures
- Inoperable bollards and a single police cruiser allowed the attacker easier access to Bourbon Street on the night of the attack.
- FBI investigating whether there were co-conspirators—and are probing possible links to the January 1, bombing at the Trump Casino in Las Vegas.
- While the suspect invoked Islamic State as motivation, he also experienced several major stressful events in his personal life that likely contributed to his radicalization.
- The attack highlights the threat of vehicular assaults and the importance of adequate security during large public events and in busy pedestrian areas.
At approximately 0315 on January 1, an individual intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people gathered on Bourbon Street in New Orleans for New Year’s celebrations. After driving through the crowd, the driver exited the vehicle and opened fire on responding law enforcement officers. Police returned fire and killed the attacker at the scene. As of Jan 2, the death toll for the attack stands at 15 and dozens of other people suffered injuries.
The FBI has identified the suspect as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas who previously served with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. It remains unclear why the suspect specifically chose New Orleans as his target, but Bourbon Street is known to attract major crowds on New Year’s Eve and during other major holidays, making it a target-rich environment.
As TorchStone has previously discussed, vehicular assaults are notoriously simple to carry out and can be very deadly. Their simplicity permits attackers to compress the attack cycle—the weapons acquisition phase in this case simply involved renting a vehicle and gathering weapons the suspect already owned. This was the deadliest attack on U.S. soil since the October 2023 shooting in Lewiston, Maine that killed 18 people and it appears to be the deadliest vehicular assault on U.S. soil ever.
Inadequate Security Measures
The attack has called into question crowd security measures in place around Bourbon St. for the celebrations. Video showed that the attacker was able to easily get past a single police cruiser parked at the entrance to Bourbon St. by driving onto the sidewalk. Additionally, the bollards on Bourbon St. were down for maintenance and/or replacement. It is not clear if the attacker was aware of this and it influenced his attack planning, or if it was sheer coincidence, but the absence of effective vehicle barriers contributed to the high death toll of the attack.
The Ford F-150 Lighting electric pickup truck Jabbar used in the attack is tactically interesting. Being an EV, it is much quieter than a gasoline or diesel vehicle and would be harder for victims to hear. The vehicle is also very heavy, (1,500 to 2,000 pounds heavier than the gas version) giving it a more destructive capability.
Identified Suspects and Possible Co-Conspirators
Police found firearms and a potential IED in the suspect’s vehicle after the attack and police are investigating other potential IEDs found in the French Quarter, but these appear to be false alarms.
The suspect rented the vehicle from Turo, an online platform that lets vehicle owners lease their vehicles directly to other members. The FBI is also investigating for any connections between the New Orleans attack and the explosion of a Tesla cyber truck at the Trump casino in Las Vegas several hours later. Both vehicles were electric trucks rented from the same online service in apparent suicide attacks, but using very different tactics. The Las Vegas attack involved an explosion rather than a vehicular assault.
Local media identified the suspect behind the Las Vegas attack as Colorado Springs resident, Mattew Livelsberger. Livelsberger was also a U.S. Army veteran, having served in special forces.
Major Personal Issues Preceded Attack
Jabbar published a series of videos pledging allegiance to the Islamic State and investigators also discovered a flag on the vehicle associated with the Islamic State. It remains unclear if he received any external support or if he acted in coordination with other individuals – for example, the suspect in the Las Vegas attack. The FBI is currently searching for any co-conspirators.
While Jabbar invoked the Islamic State and radical jihadist ideology as motivators behind his attack, he had also recently experienced several other major life events that likely contributed to his radicalization: most notably, he had been through a nasty divorce and was badly in debt after business failures. These personal crises likely contributed to his radicalization, embrace of Islamic State ideology, and determination to conduct a suicide attack. He reportedly posted a video where he said he initially considered murdering his family but decided on this attack instead.
Jabbar’s history is a reminder that attackers rarely “just snap.” There are typically warning indicators that a person is becoming radicalized and may resort to violence well before an attack takes place. Watching for these indicators and intervening early can save lives.
Find out more on the history of vehicular assaults and how to mitigate them.