A New York Occasions freelance contributor mentioned Thursday a school newspaper interview he had years in the past with Shamsud-Din Jabbar, saying he didn’t seem to be the kind of one who would commit the New Yr’s Day terror assault in New Orleans.
Keenan spoke to CNN host Paula Newton early Thursday morning concerning the second he came upon that the suspect within the deaths of 15 individuals after intentionally driving his truck by Bourbon Road was the identical man he interviewed in 2015 for Georgia State College’s school paper.
“My head was spinning,” Keenan informed the anchor, including, “What little I remember from that interview was a very cool, calm, and collected guy.”
Jabbar attended Georgia State from 2015 till 2017 and obtained a bachelor’s diploma in pc data techniques. Keenan interviewed him for an article about school life as a veteran in 2015.
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New York Occasions freelance contributor Sean Keenan spoke to CNN about having interviewed the suspect behind the New Orleans terror assault almost ten years in the past. (Screenshot/CNN)
“Nothing about his character threw any red flags,” the journalist said.
Authorities say the 42-year-old Jabbar drove his truck by a crowd gathered on New Orleans’ well-known Bourbon Road at round 3:15 a.m. on Wednesday as they rang in 2025. The suspect was a U.S.-born citizen who lived in Houston, Texas.
After ramming by the gang, Jabbar exited the car and exchanged hearth with legislation enforcement. The suspect was killed within the encounter. Bomb-making supplies had been reportedly discovered at a New Orleans Airbnb Jabbar was suspected to have rented forward of the assault. Authorities to date consider that Jabbar acted alone in finishing up the rampage and was impressed by the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group.
The suspect had been married twice and had two youngsters. The FBI revealed that Jabbar additionally served within the U.S. Military as a Human Useful resource Specialist and Data Know-how (IT) Specialist from March 2007 till January 2015, and served within the Military Reserves as an IT Specialist from January 2015 till July 2020.
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Investigators search the rental house utilized by Shamsud-Din Jabbar in New Orleans, Louisiana on Thursday, January 2, 2024. A number of persons are lifeless and dozens are injured after Jabbar rammed his automotive into crowds of New Yr’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Road on Wednesday. (Kat Ramirez for Fox Information Digital)
Throughout his time within the Military, he deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010. The FBI believes he was honorably discharged.
Keenan informed CNN that his shock at discovering out Jabbar was able to such an assault was shared by different individuals who knew him.
“A lot of my colleagues at the New York Times talked to family and friends, and they’re telling you this was a wild 180,” he mentioned.
Keenan continued to explain the Jabbar he interviewed as having a “reserved demeanor.”
“He was a little bit distant in the way that, you know, you sometimes see from veterans who have had difficult deployments,” the journalist mentioned, including that he’s “still processing it all.”
Keenan described the 2015 interview with Jabbar in a New York Occasions piece following the assault. In it, the reporter said that Jabbar informed him he had bother adjusting to life after the army.
Investigators proceed to dam off Bourbon Road in New Orleans, Louisiana on Thursday, January 2, 2024. A number of persons are lifeless and dozens are injured after a person drove right into a crowd of New Yr’s Eve revelers on Wednesday. (Audrey Conklin/Fox Information Digital)
“Mr. Jabbar complained that the complexity of the Department of Veterans Affairs bureaucracy sometimes made it difficult for veterans to get their tuition and other educational benefits paid through the G.I. Bill, and that even a single missing signature or sheet of paper could affect an applicant’s benefits,” Keenan recalled.
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The reporter famous that Jabbar’s different criticism was that it was laborious “to communicate without defaulting to the military jargon he had adopted during his years in the service — and that doing so can make it difficult for veterans when applying for civilian jobs.”
