Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the US Army veteran who killed 15 in New Orleans, not an immigrant

New Orleans authorities have identified the main suspect in the attack that killed 15 people. The police identified a man named Shamsud-Din Jabbar as the prime suspect in the New Year Carnage.

The 42-year-old served in the US Army for 13 years and was deployed in Afghanistan as well. The US military shared new details of Jabbar on Wednesday to help the police know more about the suspect.

Both Federal officials and local law enforcement in New Orleans maintained that Jabbar did not act alone. The authorities stated that the officials were hunting for accomplices. The FBI maintained that Jabbar had an Islamic State flag on his truck and the bureau is referring to the incident as a ‘potential act of terror’.

Who is Shamsud-Din Jabbar?

The 42-year-old  man served in the US Army as a human resource specialist and information technology specialist from 2007 until 2015. He later joined the US Army Reserve as an IT specialist until 2020. As per the records, Jabbar held the rank of staff sergeant at the end of service. The suspect was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, the official said.

Apart from this, Jabbar was also enlisted in the US Navy in August 2004 under a delayed entry program. However, he was discharged from the Navy a month later. Meanwhile, Corporate records submitted to law enforcement showed that Jabbar got involved in a series of businesses in recent years.

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In a promotional video for a real estate business, posted on YouTube in 2020, a man with the same name as the suspect was seen recalling his time in the military. “I’ve taken those skills and applied them to my career as a real estate agent, where I feel like what really sets me apart from other agents is my ability to be able to be a fierce negotiator,” he said, encouraging clients to give him a call.

In the video, the man introduced himself as a manager at Blue Meadow Properties LLC, which is a Texas-based company whose license expired back in 2022. Records showed that Jabbar was registered as a real estate sales agent for four years through February 2023. In his real estate profile, he said that he was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas.

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Meanwhile, online Texas criminal records showed that the US veteran had done relatively minor offences in his past, including a misdemeanour theft and driving with an invalid license before his military service. According to The New York Times, Jabbar was divorced twice. Back in 2022, when he was going through the end of his second marriage, he wrote an email about relatively minor offences in his past, including a misdemeanour of theft and driving with an invalid license before his military service.

Dwayne Marsh, the new husband of Jabbar’s second ex-wife, Nakedra Charrlle said that the suspect converted to Islam “at some point” and his behaviour had become more erratic recently. The couple eventually barred Jabbar from spending time with the daughters he shared with Charrle.

With inputs from agencies.