BEAUMONT, Texas — Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s highschool mates knew him as “Sham” — a superb pupil with a quiet disposition and a vibrant future. He went on to turn out to be a mannequin soldier within the Army, the place his work ethic and angle impressed his commander throughout a tour in Afghanistan.
“He was an excellent soldier, somebody who confirmed self-discipline and dedication,” the commander, Rich Groen, posted on social media.
But over the previous few years, as Jabbar labored to climb the company ladder, his life started to deteriorate. He confronted extreme cash issues and a 3rd divorce. At some level, he fell beneath the sway of the Islamic State, the terrorist group referred to as ISIS.
On New Year’s Eve, Jabbar, 42, drove a rented truck from Houston to New Orleans, authorities mentioned, posting movies on-line alongside the way in which through which he professed his assist for ISIS. Once he reached Bourbon Street, he planted two improvised explosive units after which obtained again into his truck and plowed into revelers, killing 14 earlier than police shot and killed him in a gunbattle.
In some methods, Jabbar, together with his private life and funds in shambles, matches the profile of those that consultants say are almost certainly to show to extremist teams to search out that means and a way of goal.
The assault has surprised and confused his family and friends members. How might somebody so sort and unassuming, some have mentioned in interviews and social media posts, find yourself finishing up such a heinous act of terrorism?
“It’s an entire shock, a shock, to everybody,” Jabbar’s half-brother, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar IV, 24, mentioned in an interview.
“There weren’t any moments main as much as this that have been obvious or pink flags to indicate that he’s been radicalized or modified in any approach from the loving brother and father and son that everyone knows,” he mentioned.
Investigators are attempting to establish Jabbar’s path to radicalization. At a information convention Thursday morning, legislation enforcement officers conceded that they’d little perception into his transformation.
“Quite a lot of questions we’re nonetheless asking ourselves,” mentioned Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “What I can inform you proper now could be that he was 100% impressed by ISIS. We’re digging via extra of the social media, extra interviews, working with a few of our different companions to establish a little bit bit extra about that connection.”
‘Time is of the essence’
Jabbar grew up in Beaumont, a metropolis in japanese Texas close to the Louisiana border. He attended Central High School, the place he was identified for his well mannered, easygoing approach and polished look. He tended to put on button-up shirts and polos, former classmates mentioned.
“He was very grounded, reserved, quiet,” mentioned Chris Pousson, who attended center college and highschool with Jabbar.
After he graduated in 2001, Jabbar sought to serve his nation. He initially tried to enlist within the Navy in 2004, in response to three U.S. protection officers, however he left after solely a month. He then joined the Army, working as a human useful resource specialist and knowledge expertise specialist from 2007 to 2015.
His unit deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.
Groen, Jabbar’s commander, wrote on social media that he labored “quietly and professionally” as a human assets officer and mail clerk in Afghanistan, “guaranteeing the little issues that saved us all linked to house have been accomplished with care and precision.”
“To assume that the identical particular person who as soon as embodied quiet professionalism might harbor a lot hate, resulting in such unspeakable atrocities, is meaningless and heartbreaking,” added Groen, who declined an interview request.
After his time within the navy, Jabbar attended Georgia State University and majored in pc data programs, a college spokesperson mentioned.
He was quoted in an article for the scholar newspaper in 2015 in regards to the challenges navy veterans face navigating school life.
“The tradition isn’t an excessive amount of completely different however when you get out of the navy there’s so many various acronyms you’ve realized,” Jabbar mentioned. “And as you transition out … you don’t know how you can communicate with out utilizing these phrases and also you’re unsure what phrases are used outdoors the navy.”
He additionally mentioned veterans should be extraordinarily diligent to make sure they obtain funds via the GI Bill.
“It’s such a big company,” he mentioned, referring to the Department of Veterans Affairs. “You should do your due diligence, be sure you have your paperwork collectively.”
Jabbar appeared again fondly on his time within the service and inspired his half-brother to comply with in his footsteps.
“It set him straight,” Abdur-Rahim Jabbar mentioned, referring to a interval after highschool when Jabbar was partying and had some minor run-ins with the legislation. “It gave him some self-discipline and grounded him.”
After he graduated in 2017, Jabbar tried his hand in actual property. In a promotional video posted to YouTube in 2020, he mentioned his time within the navy helped him study “the that means of nice service and what it means to be responsive.”
But his actual property profession was short-lived. He started working for the Deloitte consulting agency in 2021, an organization spokesperson mentioned.
By then, his life was already starting to fray. He was in divorce proceedings together with his third spouse — his first marriage ended round 2012 and his second in 2016 — and in deep monetary bother, in response to courtroom information.
The firm he shaped, Blue Meadow Properties, misplaced $28,000 in 2021 and he had $16,000 in bank card debt, he wrote in an e mail to his then-wife’s lawyer.
“Time is of the essence,” Jabbar wrote. “I can’t afford the home cost. It is late in extra of $27,000 and at risk of foreclosures if we delay settling the divorce.”
Jabbar made about $58 an hour at Deloitte and labored 40 hours per week, taking house a internet revenue of $7,876.70 a month, in response to paperwork he filed with the courtroom.
But his month-to-month bills totaled round $9,000. In August 2022, he had solely $2,012 in his financial institution accounts, in response to the filings.
Despite his monetary troubles, Jabbar nonetheless confirmed up for his household. His half-brother mentioned that their father had a stroke in 2023 and that Jabbar ceaselessly got here by to assist handle him.
“He helped me bathe him, change him, feed him,” Abdur-Rahim Jabbar mentioned.
‘Prays at house’
It stays unclear when Jabbar first grew to become drawn to ISIS. His half-brother mentioned that their father was Muslim and that Jabbar’s mom was Christian however transformed after they married.
Jabbar was open about his Muslim religion. He made it clear that he wasn’t into consuming or partying, however he didn’t speak about it in a strident approach, his half-brother mentioned.
They hardly ever mentioned faith, however the warfare in Gaza did come up in a dialog final 12 months.
“He was upset about what’s taking place in Palestine,” Abdur-Rahim Jabbar mentioned. He remembered his brother saying “it was genocide on each side.”
Jabbar appeared to turn out to be extra religious after his most up-to-date divorce, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar mentioned, however he by no means mentioned ISIS or any radical ideologies.
“He was looking for himself,” he mentioned.
Jabbar posted audio messages about Islam to a SoundCloud account in early 2024. In one titled “Satan’s Voice,” he describes music because the “voice of Satan.”
“It is a mild, gradual luring into the issues that God has made forbidden to us — the intoxicants like marijuana, alcohol, sedatives, opioids, stimulants and others,” he says. “Then there may be the way in which that music entices us to elicit intercourse, vulgarity, violence, betrayal, conceitedness, housebreaking, dishonest.”
Pousson, his highschool good friend, mentioned Jabbar ceaselessly posted about his Islamic religion on Facebook however gave no trace of radicalization.
“It was all the time constructive — peace be with you, uplifting kind of stuff,” Pousson mentioned. “Nothing that he posted on-line that I noticed was damaging.”
“I didn’t see this coming from a mile away,” he added.
One of Jabbar’s neighbors in Texas mentioned he by no means noticed him on the native mosque. “He says he prays at house,” mentioned the neighbor, who requested to stay nameless.
The neighbor mentioned Jabbar was “good” and “quiet” and largely saved to himself.
On the morning of New Year’s Eve, the neighbor mentioned, he noticed Jabbar loading a white truck outdoors his house. The neighbor went over to see whether or not he wanted a hand, and Jabbar mentioned he was transferring to Louisiana.
“He mentioned he obtained a job over there,” the neighbor recalled.
It was someday on New Year’s Day that the neighbor realized Jabbar had traveled to New Orleans for a really completely different motive.