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

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.’

— Christopher Raia, FBI

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.

A Virginia man has been arrested and charged after authorities caught him with homemade explosives in a stolen vehicle on New Year’s Day.

Jordan Alexander Sweetman, 19, of Arlington, is charged with obstruction of justice, possession of burglary tools, wearing a mask to conceal identity, driving without a license, and manufacturing and possessing explosive materials.

Warren County officials responded to a 911 call on Jan. 1 reporting a man wearing a ski mask throwing items out of a suspicious dark Honda with no license plates, according to a press release from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies later located a car matching the description of the 911 caller at a 7-Eleven in Linden, about 70 miles outside Washington, D.C., where they detained Sweetman, who tried to flee the scene on foot.

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“Preliminary investigation revealed that Sweetman did not own the vehicle, lacked a valid driver’s license, and exhibited signs of mental health issues,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.

Authorities transported Sweetman to a hospital for a medical evaluation before he appeared before the magistrate last week to face his initial charges, which did not include manufacturing and possessing explosive materials at the time.

FBI FOUND 150 BOMBS AT VIRGINIA HOME IN DECEMBER, PROSECUTORS SAY

On Jan. 2, officials conducted a search warrant of the stolen vehicle and found several items resembling homemade explosives. The sheriff’s office then called in additional resources, including the local fire department, the bomb squad and Washington Field Office for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Bomb technicians safely removed the explosive devices from the vehicle and conducted a controlled detonation, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies located a vehicle matching the description of the 911 caller at a 7-Eleven in Linden, Virginia, about 70 miles outside Washington, D.C., where they detained Jordan Sweetman, who tried to flee the scene on foot. (Google Maps)

Sweetman is being held without bond at RSW Regional Jail in Warren County.

The 19-year-old’s LinkedIn page states that he worked at Joint Base Andrews Civil Air Patrol Composite Squadron, but CAP told Fox News Digital that Sweetman was not a CAP employee, and there is no active CAP volunteer member by his name.

1 DEAD AFTER CYBERTRUCK EXPLODES OUTSIDE LAS VEGAS TRUMP HOTEL

Two other unrelated incidents involving explosive devices occurred on New Year’s Day. In the early morning hours of Jan. 1, Shamsud-Din Jabbar rammed a truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 14 people. Prior to the attack, Jabbar planted explosive devices in coolers in two locations in the French Quarter, but police killed the attacker in a shootout before he could detonate them.

Authorities patrol Bourbon Street as it is reopened in New Orleans on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024. Many people are dead and dozens are injured after a man rammed his car into crowds of New Year’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Street on Wednesday. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

Also on Jan. 1, Matthew Livelsberger exploded a Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on New Year’s Day that Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said “appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who is struggling with PTSD and other issues.”

Officials are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact 540-635-7100 or email cpowell@warrencountysheriff.org.

The parents of an 18-year-old freshman at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennesseee, who was killed when a stray bullet struck her in the head in 2023 are suing multiple people and entities after their daughter was left dying on a sidewalk for about an hour.

The wrongful death lawsuit filed in Davidson County says Jillian Ludwig, 18, “was killed in a shooting that was made possible by the multiple combined acts of negligence and recklessness committed by the Defendants here in Davidson County, Tennessee.”

The defendants include the city of Nashville, the state of Tennessee, the Nashville Metro Development and Housing Agency (MDHA), Belmont University, state or city employees who examined shooting suspect Shaquille Latrelle Taylor’s mental health, a gun supplier that sold a firearm to Taylor and others.

Ludwig “was considered by many music professionals to be a budding star” at the time of her death, the lawsuit states. She played six instruments, was a member of three bands and performed at well-known venues in Nashville. 

NEW JERSEY PARENTS OF TENNESSEE COLLEGE STUDENT KILLED BY STRAY BULLET SAYS LAWS ‘PROTECT’ REPEAT CRIMINALS

“Jillian loved her family and friends, and she was a radiant and talented young woman with a bright future ahead of her,” the suit says.

The lawsuit goes on to detail a series of alleged failures that led Taylor, who had previously been deemed incompetent to stand trial in a separate criminal case prior to Ludwig’s death, to illegally possess a firearm that he discharged in the area where the 18-year-old was running on Nov. 7, 2023.

TENNESSEE COLLEGE STUDENT, 18, KILLED IN NASHVILLE PARK BY SHOOTER WITH PRIOR ARRESTS: COPS

Jessica Thorn Ludwig, right, said she does not want “any other parents to live through this nightmare that we’re going through.” (Family handout)

That day, Ludwig was jogging on a track in Edgehill Community Memorial Gardens Park, just northeast of Belmont’s campus, between classes around 2:20 p.m., when she was struck by gunfire that was allegedly intended for another target, the Nashville Police Department said at the time.

Nashville police arrested repeat offender Taylor, 29, in connection with the shooting that left Ludwig initially hospitalized in critical condition before she was pronounced dead on Nov. 8.

In March, a grand jury indicted Taylor, who had an extensive criminal history, on multiple counts, including first-degree murder, felony weapons possession with criminal intent, five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and reckless endangerment. 

RETIRED OFFICER SAYS US ‘A DIFFERENT COUNTRY’ FROM 5 YEARS AGO AFTER SPREE OF VIOLENT ATTACKS ON WOMEN

Shaquille Taylor was indicted on multiple charges in connection with Jillian Ludwig’s death. (MMetropolitan Nashville Police Department)

The suspect had previously been accused of shooting a Nashville teenager in the chest and shooting a pregnant Nashville woman while she was with her two children. Her injuries led to the miscarriage of her unborn child, the complaint notes.

Taylor “recklessly discharged a .40-caliber firearm” in the Edgehill Community Memorial Gardens Park area while Ludwig was running, striking the 18-year-old musician in the head.

WATCH: VIDEO SHOWS DRIVER STRIKING NASHVILLE POLICE CAR DURING TRAFFIC STOP

“Jillian lay bleeding at this location…in plain view, in broad daylight, for over an hour before she was found by police and provided medical attention,” the complaint states.

A criminal affidavit states that Shaquille Taylor was allegedly aiming toward a target named “Lil Greg,” who was driving in the area when the suspect allegedly shot in his direction, where Jillian Ludwig was walking at the same time. (Family handout)

Ludwig’s father, Matthew Ludwig, previously told Fox News Digital that the shooting “was entirely preventable.”

“And the laws in place failed,” he said in November 2023.

“They protect the criminals and not the innocent victims.”

— Jessica Ludwig, November 2023

The lawsuit argues that Belmont University knew or should have known to alert students that the area where Ludwig had been running was unsafe, as they had issued “other security warnings … to students in other less dangerous areas.”

Belmont University said there is little the school can say regarding the pending litigation, but the university did say in a statement that its “entire campus shares in the continued grief of Jillian’s death,” and the community has been and remains “deeply committed to the safety” of its students.

Jillian Ludwig’s family says laws need to change so that repeat offenders who are deemed incompetent to stand trial are not immediately released from custody. (Family handout)

The complaint also alleges the Nashville MDHA, which owned the apartment complex where Taylor, a felon, allegedly fired his illegally possessed weapon, had a duty to “ensure that Taylor was not using a handgun” on its property, shooting into the park where Ludwig was running.

The metro housing agency said it could not comment on pending litigation, and the Nashville Department of Law, which handles legal requests relating to the Nashville government, said it will have no comment on this case until the case is resolved.

The lawsuit further names Jenny Matthai, Dr. Michael Loftin and Dr. Mary Jane Wood, with the Tennessee government, as defendants, alleging the three medical experts had “conflicting evaluations” that determined Taylor was too incompetent to stand trial yet not so incompetent that he qualified to be held in involuntary confinement for past crimes prior to the shooting that killed Ludwig. 

Jillian Ludwig’s parents said that while she had always done well in school, she was most passionate about playing and studying music. (Family handout)

Taylor, therefore, was allowed “to go free from both criminal prosecution and involuntary confinement causing substantial risk of physical harm to Jillian,” the complaint says.

BYSTANDER SAYS SUBURBAN JOGGER MURDER SUSPECT SMILED AT HER MOMENTS AFTER SLAYING

“Said Defendants further knew while Taylor was in their custody and control that he had a specific history of violence and gun violence. Further, said Defendants knew or should have known in the exercise of sound professional judgment that Taylor would likely harm others if released,” the lawsuit says of Matthai, Loftin and Wood.

The Tennessee Department of Disability and Aging did not respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.

Belmont University President Dr. Greg Jones addressed Jillian Ludwig’s death in an email to students and staff. (Instagram)

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said his “heart still aches for Jillian Ludwig, her family, and the entire Belmont community” in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Last year, we collectively grieved such senseless gun violence. I remain inspired by the incredible strength of the Belmont community as they collectively grieved Jillian’s passing, and I hope that the Ludwig family feels our support,” O’Connell said. “We continue to look for effective solutions to reduce gun violence in our community.”

The Ludwigs’ attorneys were not commenting on the case at the time of publication out of respect for the family.

Matthew Ludwig previously told Fox News Digital in 2023 that until laws change, “this could happen to anyone.” And in April 2023, the Ludwig family was successful in doing just that with the passage of Jillian’s law, which requires defendents who are deemed incompetent to stand trial to be housed in the appropriate mental health facility.

The law also requires defendents who are determined to be incompetent to stand trial to be entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System so that they cannot purchase firearms.