SAPD began searching a Northwest San Antonio greenbelt after receiving a tip Wednesday. Credit: Shutterstock / Prath
The U.S. Army veteran whom authorities accuse of carrying out a deadly truck attack in New Orleans was a Texas native with deep connections to the Houston area, media reports and public records show.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, killed 15 and injured dozens more early Wednesday after plowing through a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in a rented white Ford F-150, police said. Jabbar was raised in Beaumont and graduated from East Texas City’s Central High School in 2001, the Beaumont Enterprise reports.

After high school, Jabbar served in the Army until 2015, then in the Army Reserve until 2020, NBC News reports. Jabbar also graduated from Georgia State University in 2017 with a BBA in computer information systems, according to the network’s reporting.

In a 2021 video posted on social media platform X, Jabbar introduced himself as a “property manager” with a Houston-based company called Blue Meadow Properties, an affiliate of the Midas Group.

Jabbar was employed by Deloitte as a consultant at the time of the attack, the accounting firm confirmed to multiple news organizations. Although his salary was $125,000 a year, thrice divorced Jabbar reportedly experienced an array of financial troubles and was living in a Harris County trailer park in squalid conditions at the time of the attack.

The pickup truck reportedly used in the attack had Texas plates and was rented via the online car rental app Turo. The vehicle’s owner, a Houston-area man named Rodrigo Diaz, is cooperating with FBI investigators, according to KSAT.

The FBI’s Houston Office said in a statement that a court-authorized search of Jabbar’s home concluded at about 7:50 a.m. Thursday.

Due to Jabbar’s Lone Star State connections, Gov. Greg Abbott said he’s also ordered Texas Department of Public Safety to investigate.

“I am treating this as a terrorist attack and will work closely with the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas National Guard and law enforcement at every level,” Abbott said in a statement.

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This article appears in Dec 26, 2024 – Jan 1, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...