HOUSTON – The brother of the suspected terrorist accused of ramming a truck through crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans discussed his brother’s religious background in a recent interview and said the attack was an example of “radicalization.” 

Abdur Jabbar, 24, spoke to The New York Times in Beaumont, Texas, where he and Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, grew up, saying they were raised Christian, but the now-deceased suspect had converted to Islam. 

“As far as I know, he was a Muslim for most of his life,” the brother told the Times.

“What he did does not represent Islam,” he added. “This is more some type of radicalization, not religion.”

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A next-door neighbor, who asked not to be identified, told Fox News Digital he had seen Shamsud-Din Jabbar loading up the white truck on Tuesday outside his Houston home, the morning before the attack in New Orleans. He said he spoke with Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who told him he had gotten a job and was moving to Louisiana. The neighbor said he was under the impression Shamsud-Din Jabbar had gotten another job in IT.

“He said he got the job that day in Louisiana,” the man said, describing how Shamsud-Din Jabbar was loading “very light stuff, handheld stuff, not heavy stuff” into the truck.

“The morning he was moving, I asked him if he needed help moving out, as a neighbor, ‘Do you need any help for moving?’ He said, ‘I’m OK,’” the neighbor told Fox News Digital.

The neighbor expressed disbelief upon learning Shamsud-Din Jabbar was accused of the Bourbon Street bloodshed. “Blow my mind, I was shocked, somebody seized the carpet under my feet, I was just like too shocked, unbelievable, ‘This really happened?’” the man said. “Like I said, we still don’t believe, we still don’t believe that that’s the person, just there’s no way, it can’t be like that.”

The Times reported that Jabbar was known “as a smart, caring brother and a quiet, helpful neighbor.” 

The newspaper also spoke to Chris Pousson, a 42-year-old retired Air Force veteran who lives in Beaumont and went to middle and high school with Jabbar. 

Referring to Jabbar as “Sham,” Pousson described him to the Times as “quiet, reserved, and really, really smart.”

Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s Houston home where law enforcement knocked down a gate. (Peter Pinedo/ Fox News Digital)

The FBI said Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, drove a rented Ford pick-up truck laden with an ISIS flag, weapons and a potential improvised explosive device (IED) into a crowd of New Year’s revelers at approximately 3:15 a.m. local time Wednesday, killing at least 15 and injuring more than 30 others. Authorities said other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter. 

A photo released by the FBI of Shamsud-Din Jabbar. (FBI)

Authorities say Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. Army veteran who recently held a six-figure job, opened fire on law enforcement officers, who returned fire, and was declared dead at the scene. 

Aerial image of New Orleans attack suspect’s home in Houston. (KRIV)

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Shamsud-Din Jabbar at one point was stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and deployed once to Afghanistan, the Times reported, citing court documents. 

The U.S. Army said Shamsud-Din Jabbar worked mostly as an information technology specialist and was discharged from the Army Reserve in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant. 

Law enforcement officials execute a search warrant at the New Orleans attack suspect’s home in Houston. (KRIV)

Shamsud-Din Jabbar had been married and divorced twice. He shared two daughters, ages 15 and 20, with his first wife, Nakedra Charrlle Marsh, the Times reported. 

Her new husband, Dwayne Marsh, said Shamsud-Din Jabbar had been acting erratically in recent months, “being all crazy, cutting his hair” after converting to Islam, and that they stopped letting him around the daughters. 

Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s brother said the suspect was also the father to a 6-year-old son.