New Orleans attacker’s rampage baffles family, friends and former Army commander
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran from Texas, showed no signs of radicalization, according to his family and friends.
BEAUMONT, Texas — Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s high school friends knew him as “Sham” — a good student with a quiet disposition and a bright future. He went on to become a model soldier in the Army, where his work ethic and attitude impressed his commander during a tour in Afghanistan.
“He was a great soldier, someone who showed discipline and dedication,” the commander, Rich Groen, posted on social media.
But over the past few years, as Jabbar worked to climb the corporate ladder, his life began to deteriorate. He faced severe money problems and a third divorce. At some point, he fell under the sway of the Islamic State, the terrorist group known as ISIS.
On New Year’s Eve, Jabbar, 42, drove a rented truck from Houston to New Orleans, authorities said, posting videos online along the way in which he professed his support for ISIS. Once he reached Bourbon Street, he planted two improvised explosive devices and then got back into his truck and plowed into revelers, killing 14 before police shot and killed him in a gunbattle.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar.Courtesy Abdur-Rahim Jabbar IVIn some ways, Jabbar, with his personal life and finances in shambles, fits the profile of those who experts say are most likely to turn to extremist groups to find meaning and a sense of purpose.
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