The videos started hitting X—still mostly called Twitter by everyone on the ground—around 3:30 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. Actually, it was technically New Year’s Day, 2025. People were still wearing glittery "2025" glasses and holding plastic go-cups. Then, the screaming started. If you were scrolling through the New Orleans truck attack Twitter feed that night, you saw the raw, shaky footage before the major news outlets even got their cameras warmed up. It was chaotic. Brutal.
A white Ford F-150 Lightning—an electric truck, which made it eerily quiet until the metal started crunching—plowed through a massive crowd on Bourbon Street. The driver didn’t stop at the first impact. He kept going for three blocks.
Fourteen people died. Just like that.
The Chaos on Social Media
Honestly, the "New Orleans truck attack Twitter" ecosystem that night was a mess of heroism and straight-up misinformation. You had people posting live from the French Quarter, filming from balconies while others were diving under tables at places like Old Absinthe House. But because the internet is what it is, the rumors flew fast.
One of the biggest things people got wrong early on was the driver’s identity and status. Because the truck was registered in Texas and had recently been near the border, a massive wave of posts claimed the attacker was an "illegal alien." Even major political figures jumped on that. It turned out to be totally false. The FBI eventually confirmed the guy was Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen and Army veteran.
Twitter became a digital crime scene. People were tagging the NOPD and the FBI with clips of a man in body armor. It was Jabbar. After he crashed the truck into an aerial work platform near Conti Street, he didn’t give up. He jumped out with a .308 rifle and a Glock, wearing a ballistic vest and a helmet. He actually shot two cops before they finally took him down.
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Why This Attack Was Different
This wasn't just a random act of road rage or a drunk driving accident. It was a planned terrorist attack. Investigators later found an ISIS flag in the truck.
What's really wild—and kinda terrifying—is how he planned it. Jabbar had been using Meta smart glasses to film the French Quarter months in advance. He was basically scouting the "soft spots" where the police barricades were weak. On the night of the attack, he even posted five videos to Facebook, including a final will and testament.
The truck itself was a focal point of the investigation. He didn't own it; he rented it through Turo. Think about that. A peer-to-peer rental app was used to source a heavy, fast-accelerating EV for a mass casualty event.
- Vehicle: Ford F-150 Lightning (Electric)
- Source: Rented in Houston via Turo
- IEDs: Two pipe bombs were hidden in coolers a few blocks away
- Outcome: 14 victims killed, 57 injured
The pipe bombs didn't go off, thank God. They were rigged for remote detonation, and the remote was found right there in the truck. The FBI called them "crude," but if they’d worked, the death toll on Bourbon Street would have been significantly higher.
The Victims and the Aftermath
The names started coming out a few days later. It wasn't just tourists. It was locals, students, and parents. Martin "Tiger" Bech, a 27-year-old who had played football for Loomis Chaffee, was one of the victims. Kareem Badawi, only 18. Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, also 18. The list goes on, ranging from teenagers to a 63-year-old man named Terrence Kennedy.
New Orleans is a city that prides itself on being "unburnable," but this hurt. The Sugar Bowl, which was supposed to happen that night at the Superdome between Notre Dame and Georgia, had to be pushed back. The city felt empty, which is rare for January 1st.
There’s still a lot of talk on social media about the security failures. Why weren't the steel bollards up? NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick admitted they "malfunctioned sometimes." That’s a hard pill to swallow for the families. The city was actually in the middle of a project to replace those old barriers when the attack happened.
How to Stay Informed and Safe
When events like this happen, the New Orleans truck attack Twitter feed is a double-edged sword. It gives you immediate info, but it also spreads panic.
If you're looking for the truth in the middle of a developing story, you've got to look for the "Verified" agencies, even if that feels old-fashioned. Follow the FBI New Orleans field office or the official NOPD accounts. Don't take a grainy 10-second clip from a random account as the whole truth.
Next Steps for You:
If you want to help or stay updated on the ongoing legal and security changes in New Orleans following this tragedy, you can check the official FBI Digital Tip Line archives or look into the NOLA Ready alerts. They’ve revamped how they handle French Quarter barricades since the 2025 attack, and keeping an eye on those municipal updates is the best way to know which areas are truly "pedestrian-only" during major holidays.