Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the terrorist from New Orleans, set up a bomb production site in his run-down trailer in Texas. Inside the trailer, law enforcement officers discovered a Quran that was left open on a page that discussed “slaughtering” in the name of Allah.
During a search of the disheveled residence, FBI agents uncovered a makeshift workspace for constructing bombs in one of the bedrooms, equipped with various chemicals commonly used in explosive devices.
Other bomb-making paraphernalia seen in the Houston trailer include tools, an eye-protection visor and weighing scales.
The home has been left disarray with the gate door hanging on its hinges following the FBI raid.
One bedroom was filled with children’s toys and bunk beds, while the main bedroom had an Arabic keffiyeh scarf hanging on a clothes rack.
In the living area a Quran is seen propped up on top of a bookshelf acting as a centre-piece.
The holy book was left open on a passage reading, “…they fight in Allah’s cause, and slay and are slain; a promise binding…”
The passage, Verse 9:111 of the Quran, urges Muslims to take responsibility to kill Allah’s enemies and to be willing to die.
Jabbar’s shelves are filled with several other Islamic texts and religious materials and a prayer rug is rolled up nearby.
Neighbours said Texas-born Jabbar left the property on New Year’s Eve, telling them his lease was up and he was moving to New Orleans.
Authorities have stated that Jabbar, aged 42, was unequivocally under the influence of the terrorist organization IS when he carried out an attack in which he intentionally drove his pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, resulting in the deaths of 14 individuals and injuries to 35 others in the early hours of January 1st.
The killer, wearing full body armour, then jumped out of his vehicle – which carried a homemade IS flag – and opened fire with an assault rifle, wounding two police officers.
He was shot dead by cops at the scene.
Police later recovered a handgun and an AR-15 style rifle from the white Ford F-150 Lightning electric pick-up.
Chillingly, unexploded pipe bombs – presumably built inside Jabbar’s Texas trailer – were also found inside the truck, hidden within coolers and wired for remote detonation.
Two other unexploded bombs were found in the French Quarter with a pipe bomb packed with nails and plastic explosives hidden inside an ice chest.
In a disturbing video posted shortly before his horrifying attack, the US Army veteran said he had joined IS “before this summer” and showed off his last will and testament.
He also said he had planned to murder his family and friends, but decided against it over concerns the media wouldn’t focus on the “war between the believers and disbelievers,” FBI agent Christopher Raia said.
It has also emerged Jabbar, a former military IT specialist, had two failed marriages and faced crippling debt.
On Friday, Jabbar’s former commanding officer, Colonel Richard Groen, described him as “great soldier” but said his transition to someone who “could harbour so much hate” was “incomprehensible and heartbreaking.”
Col Groen, who said Jabbar served under his Troop Command during a deployment to Afghanistan, added in a post on X: “To think that the same individual who once embodied quiet professionalism could harbor (sic) so much hate, leading to such unspeakable atrocities, is incomprehensible and heartbreaking.”
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are expected to visit New Orleans on Monday.
Investigators are still digging into Jabbar’s past and what radicalized the US Army veteran.
Jabbar was a US Army veteran who served for more than 10 years, including a deployment to Afghanistan in 2009.
He studied information technology, recently held a six-figure job and converted to Islam after being brought up Christian.
A man named Abdur Jabbar in Beaumont, Texas, told The New York Times he was the suspect’s brother.
He described Jabbar as “a sweetheart really, a nice guy, a friend, really smart, caring”.
He said Jabber had converted to Islam at a young age, but that “what he did does not represent Islam.
“This is more some type of radicalization, not religion.”
Alethea Duncan of the FBI said: “We believe he was honorably discharged, but we are working through this process, figuring out all this information.”
A US Army spokesperson confirmed to ABC that Jabbar served in human resources and information technology roles from 2007 to 2015 in the army, but he was not involved in direct combat.
He then continued as an IT specialist in the Army Reserve from 2015 to 2020, the spokesperson said, and left at the rank of staff sergeant.
Jabbar enlisted in the Navy in August 2024, 5 months before the attack, but did not go to boot camp and was discharged from the program a month later, a Navy spokesperson said.
Jabbar was married twice: first to Nakedra Marsh and then to Shaneen Jabbar from who he was divorced in 2012 and 2020 respectively.
Dwayne Marsh, who is married to Nakedra, said Jabbar had been acting erratically in recent months.
Dwayne said Jabbar was “being all crazy, cutting his hair” after converting to Islam.
