An Army veteran’s path to radicalization followed divorces, struggling businesses in Texas
BEAUMONT, Texas — Shamsud-Din Jabbar grew up in Texas, joined the U.S. Army and eventually settled in Houston, where he built a real estate company and earned $120,000 a year for one of the world’s largest consulting firms.
But the 42-year-old American citizen, authorities say a rented truck plowed through New Year’s revelers in New Orleans before he was shot by police also faced pressure. He finalized a third divorce in 2022, saying in the filings that he couldn’t pay his mortgage and that his business was losing money.
On Thursday, authorities and family members were still trying to figure out why Jabbar charged through a crowd in a Ford F-150 on Bourbon Street. killing 14 revelers and injuring at least 30 others. Officials said the attack was inspired by the Islamic State group, making it one of the deadliest IS-inspired attacks on US soil in years.
FBI officials said that in the hours before the attack, Jabbar posted five videos on his Facebook account of himself joining IS. Authorities also found an Islamic State flag on the truck used in the attack early Wednesday.
“It completely contradicts who he was and how his family and friends know him,” Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, one of his brothers, told The Associated Press on Thursday at his home in Beaumont, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) outside Houston.
The 24-year-old said his older brother had increasingly isolated himself from family and friends in recent years, but had seen no signs of radicalization during their conversations. He said it had been a few months since he had seen his brother in person and a few weeks since they had spoken on the phone.
“Nothing about his behavior seemed right. He didn’t seem angry or anything like that. He was just his calm, well-mannered and good-humoured self,” the younger brother said.
Law enforcement officials said that after driving into the crowd on Bourbon Street and crashing the truck, Jabbar exited the car wearing a ballistic vest and helmet and shot at police, wounding at least two before he was shot and killed by officers who shot back.
Military, court and other public records combine a photo of a man who was stationed or lived in multiple states, including North Carolina, Texas, Georgia and Alaska, had been married several times and appeared to be having financial problems when he tried to marry to fit. to civilian life.
Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, served on active duty in human resources and information technology and deployed to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.
A spokesperson for Georgia State University confirmed that Jabbar attended the school from 2015-2017 and graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems.
He had been married at least three times in the past 20 years and had at least three children listed in divorce and custody agreements. His two most recent marriages, in Georgia and Texas, each lasted about three years, according to court documents.
Dwayne Marsh, who is married to one of Jabbar’s ex-wives, said The New York Times that Jabbar had behaved erratically in recent months. Marsh said he and his wife no longer spent time with the two daughters she shared with Jabbar.
The AP left a message at a number listed for Marsh Thursday. Messages were also left for Jabbar’s two other ex-wives at their numbers or with their lawyers.
The AP also left messages for Jabbar’s mother, which had not been returned as of Thursday afternoon. Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said their father had refused to speak to reporters.
Divorce records also show that Jabbar faced a deteriorating financial situation in January 2022. Jabbar said he was $27,000 behind on house payments and wanted to finalize the divorce quickly.
“I have exhausted all avenues to get the loan current, short of a loan modification, which leaves us with no choice but to sell the house or have it foreclosed,” he wrote in a January email 2022 to the lawyer of his now ex-wife. .
His companies were also struggling. One company, Blue Meadow Properties LLC, lost about $28,000 in 2021. Two other companies he started, Jabbar Real Estate Holdings LLC and BDQ L3C, were worth nothing. He also racked up $16,000 in credit card debt due to expenses such as attorney fees, according to the email.
Court documents show he earned about $10,000 a month in 2022 doing business development and other work for the consulting firm Deloitte.
On Wednesday, police blocked access to a Houston neighborhood where Jabbar’s last address was listed, a small white mobile home in a gated community where ducks and goats roamed the grass. On Thursday, the FBI said its investigation in the area had been completed, but did not release any further details.
Despite the tumult shown in court documents, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said his brother had shown no outward signs of fear or anger about his relationships.
“I think he blamed himself for his divorces more than anything. … And he was never bitter toward his ex-wives,” the younger Jabbar said.
Childhood friend and fellow veteran Chris Pousson reconnected with Jabbar on Facebook around 2009, before the two lost contact again around 2019. Speaking from his home in Beaumont, he said his biggest takeaway from periodic check-ins with Jabbar has been positive messages and praise for his faith. , but nothing that raised any flags.
“I never saw this coming. And in the military, I actually did anti-terrorism in the military. And if there were any warning signs, I would have caught them and contacted the appropriate authorities,” he said.
“But he hasn’t given me anything that would have suggested he was capable of doing what happened.”
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Associated Press reporters Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia, Tara Copp in Washington, Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Michael Phillis in St. Louis and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.