LOUISIANA — A disabled veteran who survived the deadly New Year’s Day attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans is sharing his experience, calling the event “traumatizing” and a night he will never forget.
The terror attack left 15 people dead and dozens injured after authorities say 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar intentionally drove a truck into crowds of revelers before opening fire on police. Jabbar, identified as a U.S.-born Army veteran from Texas, was killed at the scene by officers.
The veteran, who wished to be identified only as Lester, said he was in New Orleans recovering from a medical procedure and celebrating the new year in the Crescent City.
"To find healing and peace, they told me in New Orleans I can find healing and peace," he says.
Instead, he found himself face-to-face with the suspect.
"I was getting ready to get out there and noticed these car beams," Lester said. "He tried to hit me and kind of swerved and tried to get me again and I'm like you can't get me."
According to investigators, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar was driving a truck mounted with an ISIS flag.
Authorities said they discovered improvised explosive devices inside the truck and in nearby areas of the French Quarter. Some of the IEDs were deemed viable and safely rendered by law enforcement.
Isis is an Islamic extremist group and according to Human Rights Watch—the group has claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in nearly 20 other countries, including Afghanistan, Egypt, France, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom.
Lester believes what he was wearing, might have caused Jabbar to attack him.
“I don't know if he was targeting my sweater because it says freedom or my flag," he says.
Lester, who suffered a fractured pelvis and other injuries, said his main concern during the attack was his daughter.
“When this guy was after me, all I could think about was her,” he said. “I can’t let her down—she needs me.”
AP reports that they've reviewed surveillance footage showing three men and a woman placing one of multiple improvised explosive devices around the quarter, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.
"Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter. The FBI’s Special Agent Bomb Technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable and they will work to render those devices safe. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. We are aggressively running down all leads to identify any possible associates of the subject," stated an official from the FBI.
For Lester—he wants to take this experience and show others that despite tragedy, unity makes us stronger.
"We just have to find a way to unite like an unbroken chain. That nobody can take away because it's sad, because veterans like myself are looking at this and thinking what has my country come to?" he tells KATC.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations will be the lead agency on this investigation. Anyone with information that can assist is urged to contact the FBI’s New Orleans Bureau by calling (504) 816-3000 or by emailing tips@fbi.gov.
To read our first story on this incident, click here.
