On January 1st, a pickup truck drove directly into a crowd of people celebrating the new year in New Orleans. This attack on the people of New Orleans took the lives of more than a dozen and injured at least 30.While exiting the vehicle, the attacker was shot and killed by law enforcement. The FBI released a formal statement identifying the attacker, as well as disclosing details related to his death.
“The subject has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas. He was driving a Ford pickup truck, which appears to have been rented. After hitting the crowd, he exited the vehicle and fired upon local law enforcement. Law enforcement returned fire, and the subject was pronounced deceased at the scene. Two law enforcement officers were injured and transported to a local hospital,” FBI said.
He posted videos before the attack declaring that his initial plan was to harm his family and friends, due to his recent divorce. On top of that, Jabbar was an Army veteran who had disputes with the law including misdemeanor theft and driving under the influence (DUI) on the military base, Fort Bragg, in North Carolina. In both cases he pleaded guilty, serving nine months of “community supervision” for the theft charges and got put on probation for 12 months with a suspended drivers license for the DUI.
Even though Jabbar’s act of violence was an horrendous event, some believe the city of New Orleans could have taken more steps to prevent this tragedy.
Six injured victims and a grieving father are suing the City of New Orleans along with two contractors because, like many others, they felt that the City of New Orleans neglected to do their duty in protecting the celebrators. At a press conference New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell made certain that there will be supplementary security details for the 2025 Mardi Gras parade. Cantrell has put in a request with the White House to bump up the celebration parade to a Level One Special Event Assessment Rating (SNEAR-1) using federal resources such as air patrol, bomb sniffing K9 units, cybersecurity checks, and tactical response forces to ensure the city’s safety.
“I have specifically requested through the White House that the city of New Orleans be assisted with getting a tactical expert in our city to map our for target heartening measures. In addition of that, we have submitted a re-adjudication request for Mardi Gras to be removed from a SEAR-2, upgraded to a SEAR-1,” Cantrell said.
St. Louis is also known for having a large festival celebrating Mardi Gras. In light of these events however, local law enforcement does plan on having additional security details in place. Security personnel at the parade will be there to prevent injury and overcrowding, bag checking will take place at the entrances, and first aid stations will be available in case of emergency. The St. Louis Police Department confirmed that there will be added safety forces, though the department was unable to give a statement.
