Recently released police body camera footage captured the moment when the New Orleans terrorist was shot and killed by the police during the New Year’s Day incident.
The video depicted how brave police officers took swift action to neutralize the ISIS terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar after he intentionally drove through a crowd of celebrants and fired shots at both law enforcement and onlookers.
In the recording, three New Orleans police officers can be seen surrounding Jabbar’s Ford F-150, instructing him to exit the vehicle. The same car was used by the perpetrator to cause the deaths of 14 individuals and inflict injuries on numerous others.
A fourth officer whose bodycam footage was released, named as officer Luis Robles, then ran towards the truck, which had stopped after crashing into a lift vehicle.
From inside the wreckage, Jabbar then quickly fired a number of shots at police as a muzzle flash could be seen from inside the cab of the truck.
The officers rapidly retreated from the shots, before returning fire and ultimately fatally shooting Jabbar and bringing the horror rampage to an end.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said two officers were hospitalized after being shot in the shootout, named as Joseph Rodrigue and Jacobie Jordan, but have since been released.
Authorities praised the efforts of the officers who confronted and killed Jabbar, and the New Orleans City Council recently awarded commendations to 175 officers involved in combatting the attack.
Investigations are still ongoing over the shocking terrorist rampage in the early hours of New Year’s Day, with officials saying it appears Jabbar was inspired by ISIS.
Hours after the attack, the FBI said it found two ‘improvised explosive devices’ at the scene that did not go off.
Authorities said Jabbar planned to use a ‘very rare explosive compound’ in his homemade IEDs, which they said had never been used before in a terror attack in the US or Europe.
Questions were quickly raised over how Jabbar was able to drive the truck down Bourbon Street in the city’s French Quarter, one of the most popular tourist hotspots in the area.
It was later revealed that security barriers that were intended to protect the area had been removed for replacement at the time of the attack.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell admitted in a news conference that the ‘bollards were not up because they are near completion’, and said they were expected to be completed ‘before the Super Bowl.’
A total of 14 people tragically lost their lives in the attack, with the coroner’s office saying all victims died from blunt force injuries sustained when Jabbar plowed through the crowd.
The youngest victim was 18 years old and the oldest 63. Most victims were in their 20s.
They came from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey and the United Kingdom.
Latasha Polk, a nursing assistant and mom of a teenage boy, was the last victim to be identified, and her cousin Sebastian said the final identification was heartbreaking for the family.
‘It was the wrong call we got, but as least we got the call,’ he said.
British citizen Edward Pettifer, 31, was also identified as being one of those killed, and his family in a statement they were ‘devastated at the tragic news of Ed’s death’, and described him as ‘a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and a friend’.
Pettifer was the stepson of Prince William’s nanny, with him and the Princess of Wales both saying they were ‘shocked and saddened’ following his death.
Brandon Taylor, 43, of Harvey, Louisiana, was also killed when the truck careened down Bourbon street.
His partner Heather Genusa paid tribute to him on social media, writing: ‘I can’t believe you’re gone. My life is never going to be the same. Partners in crime for life.’
Elliot Wilkinson, 40, of Slidell, Louisiana, was identified by his brother Cecil who made a post about his sibling on Facebook.
He said: ‘To my little brother Elliot Wilkinson you was loved and you will truly be missed.’
63-year-old victim Terrence Kennedy, who had spent years in the service industry and enjoyed spending his retirement strolling down the French Quarter, was described as ‘enjoying his city that he enjoyed for 63 years’ before his passing.
Billy DiMaio, 25, was another of the attack’s victims having been in the city to celebrate New Year’s Eve and see friends who planned to go to the Sugar Bowl.
He was named shortly after Hurbert Gauthreaux, 21, of Gretna, Louisiana, whose reported last words to his sister were ‘Happy New Year’s, I love you.’
Also named as victims were Nicole Perez, 27, Kareem Badawi, 23, a University of Alabama freshman, Andrew Dauphin, 26, from Montgomery, Alabama, and Matthew Tenedorio of Picayune, Mississippi.
The first victims to be named were Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, father-of-two Reggie Hunter, 37, and Tiger Bech, a 27-year-old former high school and college football player from Louisiana.
A period of mourning was announced by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry soon after the attacks, and is still ongoing as the city holds remembrance for a different victim each day.
Louisiana and her people will never cower in fear,’ he said at the time. ‘Instead, we will unite and come back stronger in honor of every person who lost their lives that day.’
Landry insisted that the city would respond appropriately to the security lapses as New Orleans prepares to host Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl.
