A freelance contributor to the New York Times on Thursday spoke about an interview he had with the university newspaper's Shamsud Din Jabbar several years ago, saying he didn't look like the kind of person who would carry out a New Year's Day attack in New Orleans. said.
Keenan told CNN Early Thursday morning, host Paula Newton said the same suspect who intentionally drove a truck down Bourbon Street, killing 15 people, was interviewed for Georgia State University's university newspaper in 2015. He talked about the moment he knew he was a man.
“I felt light-headed,” Keenan told the anchor, adding: “What I remember most about that interview is that he was a very cool, collected guy.”
Mr. Jabbar attended Georgia State University from 2015 to 2017, earning a bachelor's degree in computer information systems. Keenan interviewed him in 2015 for an article about college life as a military veteran.
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Sean Keenan, a freelance contributor for the New York Times, told CNN about interviewing a suspect in a terrorist attack in New Orleans nearly a decade ago. (Screenshot/CNN)
“Nothing about his character raised any red flags,” the journalist said.
Authorities said Jabbar, 42, drove his truck through a crowd gathered on New Orleans' famous Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday as the 2025 bell tolled. The suspect was born in the United States and lived in Houston. Texas.
Mr. Jabbar pushed his way through the crowd, got out of his car, and engaged in a gunfight with police. The suspect died in the encounter. According to reports, bomb-making materials were found at an Airbnb in New Orleans that Jabbar was believed to have rented before the attack. Authorities so far believe Jabbar carried out the attack alone and was inspired by the Islamic State group.
The suspect had been married twice and had two children. The FBI said Mr. Jabbar served in the U.S. Army as a human resources specialist and information technology (IT) specialist from March 2007 to January 2015, and in the Army Reserve as an IT specialist from January 2015 to July 2020. revealed that he had done so.
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Investigators are searching a rental home occupied by Shamsuddin Jabbar on Thursday, January 2, 2024, in New Orleans, Louisiana. On Wednesday, multiple people were killed and dozens injured after Jabbar plowed his car into a crowd of New Year's Eve revelers on Bourbon Street. (Kat Ramirez, Fox News Digital)
While in the Army, he was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010. The FBI believes he was honorably discharged.
Keenan told CNN that his shock at learning that Jabbar was capable of carrying out such an attack was shared by others who knew him.
“Many of my colleagues at the New York Times have spoken to their families and friends, and they say this was a hell of a 180,” he said.
Keenan went on to describe Jabbar as having a “low-key demeanor” during the interview.
“He was a little aloof, the kind you sometimes get from veterans who have gone through difficult deployments,” the journalist said, adding that he was “still processing everything.”
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Keenan said of his 2015 interview with Jabbar: New York Times article After the attack. In the report, the reporter said that Mr. Jabbar had told him that it would be difficult for him to adjust to life after the military.
Law enforcement authorities continue to blockade Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on Thursday, January 2, 2024. A man plowed his car into a crowd of New Year's Eve revelers on Wednesday, killing several people and injuring dozens. (Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital)
“Mr. Jabbar said the complexities of the Department of Veterans Affairs' bureaucracy sometimes make it difficult for veterans to receive tuition and other education benefits through the GI Bill, and even a missing signature or piece of paper can make it difficult for veterans to receive tuition and other education benefits through the GI Bill. They complained that it could affect the rights of applicants. There are merits,” Keenan recalled.
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The reporter said another complaint of Mr. Jabbar was “the difficulty in communicating without the military terminology he had adopted during his years of service. And in doing so, he “This can cause difficulties when applying for jobs.”
