By Jack Brook
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — The Islamic State group-inspired attacker who killed 14 people in a truck rampage on New Year’s Day in New Orleans fired at police from inside his vehicle before officers fatally shot him, police bodycam footage released Friday shows.
“They killed the terrorist. ... They are national heroes,” New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said of the officers at a news conference.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar had driven his white F-150 around a police car blockading the entrance of Bourbon Street, the city’s most famous thoroughfare, and plowed into revelers about 3:15 a.m. New Year’s Day, killing 14 and injuring dozens.
After the vehicle crashes, Officer Christian Beyer stands beside the truck’s open driver’s side door with his gun raised, bodycam footage from approaching officer Luis Robles shows. Officer Jacobie Jordan is also seen standing by the driver’s side. He too had his gun drawn, officials said.
Beyer identifies himself and asks Jabbar to get out of the truck, said Sgt. Mike Guasco with the Public Integrity Bureau’s Force Investigation Team. The team is responsible for reviewing all police shootings.
Jabbar then shoots from behind an airbag at close range and the flash of the muzzle is visible. Robles and at least two unidentified officers turn, run a few steps away and dive onto the ground as a succession of shots rings out.
Beyer and Jordan both fired their weapons, Guasco said. A third officer not visible in the footage, Sgt. Nigel Daggs, was standing by the truck’s front passenger door and also fired.
“Officers are trained for shoot scenarios like that — they’re highly trained, and that’s what you saw. These are split-second decisions,” Kirkpatrick said.
Citing the ongoing investigation and pending litigation, Kirkpatrick said police won’t yet disclose how many shots Jabbar fired. But she stressed that the officers had followed protocol and had been allowed to return to full duty.
“All officers are faced with ‘shoot, don’t shoot.’ And this was clearly within the law and clearly, solidly within policy,” Kirkpatrick said.
The three officers who shot at Jabbar were Daggs, a 21-year veteran of the department, and Beyer and Jordan, each of whom has been with the department nearly two years, police officials said. Jordan and nine-year veteran officer Joseph Rodrigue, who did not fire his weapon, were both wounded in the thighs and Rodrigue’s shoulder was fractured. Kirkpatrick declined to comment on whether any officers or bystanders were hit by friendly fire.
The officers involved have provided statements to investigators about “their thinking and understanding” of the events that took place, Kirkpatrick said, declining to elaborate because it is part of an FBI investigation. She said the officers would not be available for comment.
She also refused to answer questions about the security measures in place or state how many officers were in the area at the time of the attack. A group of victims sued the city and two of its contractors on Thursday, claiming they failed to implement security measures that could have prevented the attack.
“I will answer any and all questions through the investigations and then the results of that will be made public,” Kirkpatrick said. She indicated that police will eventually release more bodycam footage.