Southeast
New Orleans terrorist chose Bourbon Street for maximum carnage: timeline
A 42-year-old Texas native swore allegiance to the ISIS terror group and plowed a pickup trip into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street early Wednesday, killing at least 14 and injuring more than 30 others.
The FBI identified the killer as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a twice-divorced Army veteran who, despite a lucrative job at a large consulting firm, had a history of financial struggles and missed child support payments, records show.
Much of the information came from FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia and ATF Special Agent Joshua Jackson, as part of a joint investigation into the attack.
“Let me be clear about this point,” Raia told reporters Thursday. “This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act.”
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VICTIMS OF NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST ATTACK
Shamsud-Din Jabbar pictured in an undated photograph released by the FBI after he attacked New Orleans’ Bourbon Street with a pickup truck and died in a shootout with responding officers. (FBI)
Anyone with information on the attack or Jabbar, or who was on Bourbon Street for New Year’s, is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tips, including photos and videos, can also be submitted online.
Here is a timeline of events:
Egypt trip – 2023
Jabbar traveled to Cairo, Egypt, from June 22 to July 3, 2023, then returned to the U.S. In a separate trip on July 10, 2023, he traveled to Ontario, Canada, and returned to the U.S. a few days later, the FBI said during a press conference.
It was unclear whether the visit was connected to the attack, but FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said the agency is investigating whether Jabbar had any associates in the U.S. or overseas.
“All investigative details and evidence that we have now still support that Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans,” said Raia. “We have not seen any indications of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still looking into potential associates in the U.S. and outside of our borders.”
The FBI provided a timeline of the New Orleans attack on New Year’s Day.
Scouting the scene – 2024
In October and November, Jabbar visited New Orleans at least twice, using Meta eyeglasses to take video of sections of Bourbon Street.
Monday, Dec. 30, 2024
Jabbar picks up a Ford F-150 EV rental in Houston, according to authorities.
He used the Turo app to obtain the vehicle, the same app authorities say was used in a separate EV explosion in Las Vegas, Nevada, where a Tesla Cybertruck exploded at the front door of the Trump Hotel.
Raia said the FBI had found “no definitive link” between the two attacks but noted it was “very early” in the investigation. Both Jabbar and the man involved in that explosion, Matthew Livelsberger, served in the Army and were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009.
Both had also been stationed at Fort Liberty, however, investigators said there was no known overlap in their assignments at the North Carolina base, which currently has more than 50,000 servicemen and women stationed there. It was also not immediately clear they had been deployed in the same region of Afghanistan.
SUSPECT IDENTIFIED AS FBI INVESTIGATES ACT OF TERRORISM AFTER BOURBON STREET ATTACK
New Orleans police and federal agents investigate a suspected terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Day on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Chris Granger/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)
Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the, quote, ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers.’
Tuesday, Dec. 31
Jabbar bought two coolers that he later used to conceal IEDs on Bourbon Street and drove from Houston to New Orleans – about 350 miles.
During the journey, he posted five videos about the attack and his motive to Facebook, Raia said.
In the first video, posted at 1:29 a.m., Jabbar revealed he changed his plans in order to try and attract as much attention as possible to the crime.
BOMBMAKING MATERIALS FOUND AT NEW ORLEANS AIRBNB POTENTIALLY TIED TO BOURBON STREET TERRORIST: REPORT
Investigators block off Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024. Multiple people are dead and dozens are injured after a man drove into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Wednesday. (Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital)
“Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the, quote, ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers,’” Raia said.
Jabbar’s final video was posted at 3:02 a.m.
“Additionally, he stated he had joined ISIS before this summer,” Raia said. “He also provided a will and testament.”
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025
At some point before the attack, within “roughly a couple hours,” Jabbar planted at least two IEDs in the area, according to Raia. They failed to detonate due to his makeshift detonators, according to ATF Special Agent Joshua Jackson, head of the New Orleans Field Division.
Then at 3:17 a.m., Jabbar sped around a police car at the end of Bourbon Street and accelerated toward throngs of pedestrians, New Orleans police said.
He was wearing Meta glasses once again, but does not appear to have livestreamed the attack, which killed at least 14 people, and Jabbar died in a shootout with police after crashing the truck.
INVESTIGATION CONTINUES, AS FBI SAYS NO OTHER SUSPECTS INVOLVED
More than 30 other people were injured.
Investigators search the rental home used by Shamsud-Din Jabbar in New Orleans, Louisiana on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024. Multiple people are dead and dozens are injured after Jabbar rammed his car into crowds of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street on Wednesday. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
Police recovered an Islamic State group flag in Jabbar’s truck, at least three cellphones and other devices. He had planted two IEDs concealed in coolers along Bourbon Street, and authorities were able to disarm them safely.
The FBI immediately took a lead role in the investigation, city police said.
Later in the day, the FBI identified Jabbar as the suspect and released a photo. Other photos from the scene appear to show the ISIS flag mounted to the truck’s trailer hitch.
Federal investigators were looking to speak with anyone who was in the area before, during and after the attack.
“We want to talk to anyone who was in the French Quarter on New Year’s Eve or early on New Year’s Day,” Raia said. “That includes people spotted near one of the two IEDs on Bourbon Street. The IED was inside a cooler and maybe people stopped and looked at the cooler and then continued on their way.”
Investigators continue to block off Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024. Multiple people are dead and dozens are injured after a man drove into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Wednesday. (Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital)
He said they are not considered suspects “in any way.”
An Airbnb that may be linked to the attacker burst out in flames around 5:30 a.m., according to New Orleans’ FOX 8. Investigators said they later found bombmaking materials inside. Raia acknowledged that the FBI was searching a house with a Mandeville address for evidence in connection with the case.
“Our working theory now is that the fire started after Jabar was already deceased,” ATF Special Agent Joshua Jackson later told reporters.
He said investigators were still looking into the cause.
Police recovered a “transmitter,” two guns and shell casings from the scene where he opened fire on officers and died when they returned fire. The transmitter was part of his failed plan to detonate the cooler bombs.
OFFICIALS POSTPONE SUGAR BOWL IN THE WAKE OF APPARENT TERROR ATTACK ON BOURBON STREET
Thursday, Jan. 2
Authorities continued to release additional details about the attacker and search homes in both Houston and New Orleans.
On a call with congressional lawmakers, the FBI revealed it had no intelligence on Jabbar prior to the attack.
“The FBI on the call said that they had no knowledge of Jabbar – he was not on their radar,” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee who was on the call, told Fox News. “They had no intel about him. He wasn’t someone they were watching. And I think that is incredibly scary because we’ve always heard about the sleeper cells that exist in our country.”
Aerial image of New Orleans attack suspect’s home in Houston, Texas. (KRIV)
Prior to the attack, Jabbar served in the U.S. Army. He was a human resource specialist and IT specialist from March 2007 until 2015. He then continued as an IT specialist in the Army Reserve until July 2020.
More recently, he worked for Deloitte, a major international accounting firm.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Liz Friden, Brooke Curto, Jennifer Griffin, Stephen Sorace, Aishah Hasnie, Chad Pergram and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Middle school basketball fight results in adult getting tased as announcer nonchalantly calls the action
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A chaotic scene unfolded in Kentucky during a middle school basketball game on Thursday night, as a fight led to someone getting tased.
Emmalena and Carr Creek elementary schools were competing in the A-Team Championships at Knott County Central High School, and things got ugly when two players tackled each other onto the court.
That prompted coaches and players to try to break up the fight, but chaos grew when parents came down from the stands to try to end the fracas.
Emmalena and Carr Creek elementary schools were competing in the A-Team Championships at Knott County Central High School. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
That only made matters worse, resulting in one adult on the floor getting tased.
The announcers on the call gave A-plus commentary.
“Look here, this ball game’s gotta get over,” one announcer said.
Then, when the moment happened, the announcer called it as if it were a normal occurrence.
“They just tased Ryan,” the announcer said.
Perhaps middle school basketball just means more in Kentucky.
A brawl ensued at a middle school game in Kentucky, but it was the announcer’s call that stole the show.
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The announcer’s call got some love. A Barstool Sports personality likened it to Al Michaels call of the “Miracle on Ice.”
“He said ‘they just tased Ryan’ like Ryan has been tased before,” another X user wrote.
Somehow, no arrests were reported. The game was called due to the brawl, with Carr Creek leading 48-30, but no winner was declared.
The game was called due to the brawl. (Fox News)
That wasn’t the only basketball brawl in Kentucky this week, as a high school game had fisticuffs and benches clearing.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
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Southeast
Rep Maxwell Frost allegedly assaulted at Sundance Film Festival in racially charged incident
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A member of Congress was allegedly assaulted Friday evening while attending the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., wrote on X on Saturday: “Last night, I was assaulted by a man at Sundance Festival who told me that Trump was going to deport me before he punched me in the face.”
Frost added that the suspect “was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off.”
Frost said the man had been arrested and that he wasn’t hurt in the incident.
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Rep. Maxwell Frost, D, Fla., said he was assaulted Friday evening while attending the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. ( Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MoveOn Civic Action)
“Thank you to the venue security and Park City PD for assistance on this incident,” he added.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries responded to the news on X: writing, “I am horrified by the attack on Congressman Maxwell Frost. Grateful that he is okay, but appalled that this terrifying assault took place. The perpetrator must be aggressively prosecuted.”
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Jeffries continued: “Hate and political violence has no place in our country, and the entire House Democratic Caucus family stands with Maxwell.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost attending a Sundance Film Festival event on Friday. (Robin Marchant/Getty Images for The Creative Coalition)
The alleged assault took place at a party hosted by the CAA talent party at the High West Saloon, which the suspect crashed, according to Variety.
The suspect was allegedly bragging in the bathroom about being “White” before punching Frost in the face, the outlet reported.
He has yet to be identified.
The Sundance Film Festival is held in Park City, Utah, every January. (David Becker/Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Park City Police Department for comment.
The 29-year-old congressman was first elected to serve in Florida’s 10th district in 2022.
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Southeast
College soccer star, girlfriend dead as illegal immigrant’s record ignites lawmaker fury statewide
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Lawmakers are voicing outrage as family and friends mourn a college soccer player and his girlfriend who were killed in a DUI crash allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant.
The case is reigniting debate over immigration enforcement and whether failures in the system contributed to the deaths of Fletcher Harris, 20, and Skylar Provenza, 19.
Prosecutors say Juan Alvarado Aguilar, 37, was driving under the influence when his vehicle slammed into the couple’s car on Friday, Jan. 16, killing them both and devastating their families and community. As mourners gather to say goodbye to Provenza and Harris, whose funeral was held Thursday, lawmakers are pointing to Aguilar’s immigration status and alleged criminal history as evidence of broader public safety failures they say demand immediate action.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Harris said the case highlights what he described as the deadly consequences of sanctuary policies and failures to enforce immigration laws. Harris argued the couple’s deaths were preventable and blamed state and local leadership for allowing the suspect to remain in the country and on the road.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RAN FROM DEADLY WRONG-WAY DUI CRASH THAT KILLED MOTORCYCLIST, RECORDS SHOW
A funeral service for Fletcher Mark Daniel Harris was held at Williamson Chapel in Mooresville, North Carolina, on Thursday, January 22, 2026. Harris, 20, was killed in a car crash on Jan. 16, 2026. (Tim Jackson for Fox News Digital)
“Fletcher Harris and Skylar Provenza—two bright young lives full of promise—were brutally taken in a head-on crash allegedly caused by an illegal alien with a prior DUI who never should have been on our roads,” Harris said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This is the deadly cost of North Carolina’s sanctuary policies and radical Democrat refusal to enforce the law.”
Harris also questioned the lack of public response, suggesting the reaction would be far different in other cases.
“Where’s the outrage? Where are the protests? If this were any other tragedy, the streets would be filled—but when criminal aliens kill Americans, the silence from the Left is deafening.”
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A funeral service for Fletcher Mark Daniel Harris was held at Williamson Chapel in Mooresville, North Carolina, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Tim Jackson for Fox News Digital)
Authorities say the deadly crash occurred just after 11 p.m. on Jan. 16 in Rowan County, North Carolina, when a Chevrolet Silverado driven by Aguilar crossed the center line and slammed head-on into the car carrying Harris and Provenza. They were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators said officers noted a strong odor of alcohol and that Aguilar appeared unsteady on his feet when he was arrested.
Court records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Aguilar had a prior driving-while-impaired charge from 2020 that was dismissed by a district attorney, a procedural move that has drawn renewed scrutiny following the deadly crash. Prosecutors also told the court that Aguilar had two prior failures to appear, and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer has been placed on him.
GRIEVING FATHER SAYS DAUGHTER’S DEATH BY ILLEGAL ALIEN SHOWS COST OF SANCTUARY POLICIES
Juan Alvarado Aguilar is shown in a booking photo released by authorities. Police said Aguilar, 37, was identified as the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado involved in a DUI crash that killed two people. (Rowan County Sheriff’s Office)
Aguilar now faces two counts of felony death by vehicle, driving while impaired and other charges, and is being held on a bond of more than $5 million.
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall said the deaths hit close to home and blamed what he described as failures in federal immigration enforcement.
“I think it’s a failure of policy, and it’s a failure under the Biden administration, where essentially he allowed open borders,” Hall said. He argued that Democrats have taken the position that “no one should be deported, even those who are committing serious crimes,” adding that the suspect had previously been charged with DWI before the fatal crash.
ILLINOIS FATHER SAYS PRITZKER SHOWS ‘INDIFFERENCE’ TO HIS DAUGHTER BEING KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT
Hall pushed back against claims that North Carolina is a sanctuary state, pointing to legislative action taken in recent years to require cooperation with federal immigration authorities. He said that prior to 2018, all sheriffs in the state worked with ICE, but that changed after several Democratic sheriffs stopped honoring ICE detainers.
Republican lawmakers responded by passing legislation mandating cooperation with ICE, bills that were initially vetoed by then-Gov. Roy Cooper before lawmakers overrode the vetoes.
“So in this state right now, when somebody is charged with a crime, and they’re here illegally and ICE wants to take custody of that person, the local county sheriff has to do that,” Hall said.
MOTHER OF OFFICER KILLED BY ILLEGAL MIGRANT CRITICIZES MINNESOTA LEADERS’ ‘WARPED VIEW’ OF POLICE
Fletcher Harris and Skylar Provenza are shown in a photo taken before their deaths. The two were killed in a DUI crash, according to authorities. (Instagram/ skylar_provenza)
Hall argued that enforcement later broke down at the federal level, despite state laws remaining in place, saying ICE under the Biden administration often failed to take custody of illegal immigrants charged with crimes.
He said stronger coordination between state and federal authorities is critical to preventing similar tragedies, crediting renewed enforcement efforts under the Trump administration and emphasizing the need for continued cooperation.
Reflecting on the victims, Hall said lawmakers are focused on preventing future losses.
“Know that we’re fighting very hard to make sure this never happens to anyone again,” he said.
Harris was a standout student-athlete at Catawba College, where he played soccer and made the dean’s list. Provenza had just graduated in Esthetics from Dermacademy and was set to start her career at Datre Hair Co., according to her obituary.
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In a Facebook post, Provenza’s mother urged the public to reject hatred and honor the couple’s lives with love.
“Remember them. Remember love. Remember justice, and the Lord’s plan will prevail,” she wrote. “Hate will never bring them back. While my heart is broken, I pray for this world that we live in. Evil never wins, but love always will.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the North Carolina Democratic Party for comment.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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