An open Quran page dwelling on violence and bomb-making materials and children’s toys were majorly seen in an unorganised home of 42-year-old US Army veteran Shamshud-Din Jabbar, who drove a truck into a crowd at New Orleans on January 1 killing 15 people.
A video posted by the New York Post showed Jabbar’s trailer home in North Houston has workstations, chemicals, his belongings and an open Quran on top of a book shelf.
“They fight in Allah’s cause, and slay and are slain; a promising binding..,” a passage in the open Quran reads. The line is heavily alluded to glorification of violence by extremists.
Jabbar had embraced the same verse from the Quran in a video which he posted minutes prior to the attack which he carried out on New Year revellers.
The probe officers feel the verse or the passage played as catalysts in Jabbar’s radicalisation. The 42-year-old had also expressed his allegiance to ISIS in the video.
The home was completely messy with Jabbar’s belongings, open cupboards, and various instruments.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] on Thursday said the US army veteran motivated by loyalty to the jihadist group Islamic State likely acted alone when he killed and injured dozens in a truck attack against a crowd of New Year revelers in New Orleans.
Even as initial concerns predicted that Shamsud-Din Jabbar had accomplices, believed to be on the run, preliminary investigations show he was alone, FBI deputy assistant director Christopher Raia said.
“We do not assess at this point that anyone else was involved,” Raia was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.
However, new evidence emerged revealing the details of the extent to which the US Army veteran’s loyalty to the Islamic State was and his plans to cause mayhem in the attack.
The attack left 15 killed and injured more than 30 in the French Quarter district, which ended only after he was shot by police.
“He was 100 percent inspired by ISIS,” Raia said, using an alternative name for the international jihadist group.
Before the attack, in which Jabbar slammed a rented Ford F-150 pickup into the crowd, he “posted several videos to an online platform proclaiming his support for ISIS,” Raia said.
He also carried a black ISIS flag on the back of the vehicle.
In one video, Jabbar “explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers.'”
Raia said that Jabbar had planted two homemade bombs in drink coolers in French Quarter streets. The bombs were viable but were made safe in time, he said.
Raia clarified that the total death count of 15 from Wednesday’s carnage included 14 victims and Jabbar himself, who died after wounding two police officers in an exchange of gunfire, AFP reported.
Jabbar was in the regular Army from March 2007 to January 2015 and he then moved to the Army Reserve from January 2015 to July 2020, an Army spokesperson said as Reuters reported.
Condemning the incident, outgoing US president Joe Biden posted on X, “… My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
Eyewitnesses recount horrifying incident
“All I saw was a truck slamming into everyone on the left side of Bourbon sidewalk,” said Kevin Garcia, 22, speaking to CNN shortly after the incident.
“A body came flying at me,” he said, adding that he also heard gunshots being fired.
Another witness, 22-year-old Whit Davis from Shreveport, Louisiana, told CNN the incident occurred while he was leaving a nightclub on Bourbon Street.
“Everyone started yelling and screaming and running to the back, and then we basically went into lockdown for a little bit and then it calmed down but they wouldn’t let us leave,” Davis said.
