BEAUMONT, Texas — Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s high school friends knew him as “Sham,” a good student with a calm character and a bright future. He went on to become a model soldier in the Army, where his work ethic and attitude impressed his commander during a tour in Afghanistan.
“He was a great soldier, someone who showed discipline and dedication,” Commander Rich Groen posted on social media.
But in recent years, as Jabbar worked his way up the corporate ladder, his life began to deteriorate. He faced serious financial problems and a third divorce. At some point, it fell under the rule of the Islamic State, the terrorist group known as ISIS.
On New Year’s Eve, Jabbar, 42, drove a rented truck from Houston to New Orleans, authorities said, posting videos online along the way professing his support for ISIS. Once he reached Bourbon Street, he planted two improvised explosive devices and then returned to his truck and rampaged through revelers, killing 14 people before he was shot and killed by police in a shootout.
In some ways, Jabbar, with his personal life and finances in shambles, fits the profile of those who experts say are most likely to turn to extremist groups in search of meaning and purpose.
The attack has left his friends and family stunned and confused. How could someone so kind and modest, some have said in interviews and social media posts, end up carrying out such a heinous act of terrorism?
“It’s a complete surprise, a shock for everyone,” Jabbar’s half-brother, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar IV, 24, said in an interview.
“There was no moment leading up to this that was obvious or any red flags that showed that he has become radicalized or changed in any way from the loving brother, father and son that we all know,” he said.
Investigators are trying to identify Jabbar’s path to radicalization. At a news conference Thursday morning, law enforcement officials admitted they had little idea of his transformation.
“We still have a lot of questions,” said Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “What I can tell you now is that I was 100% inspired by ISIS. “We’re doing more social media research, more interviews, and working with some of our other partners to determine a little more about that connection.”
‘Time is of the essence’
Jabbar grew up in Beaumont, a city in East Texas near the Louisiana border. He attended Central High School, where he was known for his polite, calm manner and refined appearance. He used to wear button-down shirts and polos, former classmates said.
“He was very level-headed, reserved and calm,” said Chris Pousson, who attended middle and high school with Jabbar.
After graduating in 2001, Jabbar sought to serve his country. He initially tried to enlist in the Navy in 2004, according to three U.S. defense officials, but dropped out after just a month. He then joined the Army, working as a human resources specialist and information technology specialist from 2007 to 2015.
His unit was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.
Groen, Jabbar’s commander, wrote on social media that he worked “quietly and professionally” as a human resources officer and postal worker in Afghanistan, “making sure the little things that kept us all connected to home were done with care.” and precision.”
“To think that the same individual who once embodied quiet professionalism could harbor so much hate, leading to such unspeakable atrocities, is incomprehensible and heartbreaking,” added Groen, who declined an interview request.
After his time in the Army, Jabbar attended Georgia State University and majored in computer information systems, a university spokesperson said.
He was quoted in an article for the student newspaper in 2015 about the challenges military veterans face in college life.
“The culture isn’t much different, but once you get out of the military, you learn a lot of different acronyms,” Jabbar said. “And as you transition… you don’t know how to talk without using these terms and you’re not sure what terms are used outside of the military.”
He also said veterans should be extremely diligent to ensure they receive payments through the GI Bill.
“It’s such a big agency,” he said, referring to the Department of Veterans Affairs. “You have to do your due diligence, make sure you have all the paperwork in order.”
Jabbar fondly recalled his time in the service and encouraged his half-brother to follow in his footsteps.
“That cleared it up,” Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said, referring to a period after high school when Jabbar was partying and had some minor run-ins with the law. “He gave him some discipline and punished him.”
After graduating in 2017, Jabbar tried his luck in real estate. In a promotional video posted to YouTube in 2020, he said his time in the military helped him learn “the meaning of great service and what it means to be responsive.”
But his real estate career was short-lived. He began working for consulting firm Deloitte in 2021, a company spokesperson said.
By then, his life was already beginning to unravel. He was in the process of divorcing his third wife (his first marriage ended around 2012 and his second in 2016) and in deep financial trouble, according to court records.
The company he formed, Blue Meadow Properties, lost $28,000 in 2021 and he had $16,000 in credit card debt, he wrote in an email to his then-wife’s attorney.
“Time is of the essence,” Jabbar wrote. “I can’t afford the house payment. He is more than $27,000 behind and is in danger of foreclosure if we delay resolving the divorce.”
Jabbar earned about $58 an hour at Deloitte and worked 40 hours a week, taking home a net income of $7,876.70 a month, according to court documents he filed.
But his monthly expenses amounted to about $9,000. As of August 2022, he only had $2,012 in his bank accounts, according to the filing.
Despite his financial problems, Jabbar still showed up for his family. His half-brother said that their father suffered a stroke in 2023 and that Jabbar came frequently to help care for him.
“He helped me bathe him, change him and feed him,” said Abdur-Rahim Jabbar.
‘Pray at home’
It is unclear when Jabbar first became attracted to ISIS. His half-brother said his father was Muslim and Jabbar’s mother was Christian but converted when they married.
Jabbar was open about his Muslim faith. He made it clear that he didn’t like drinking or partying, but he didn’t talk about it stridently, his half-brother said.
They rarely talked about religion, but the war in Gaza did come up in conversation last year.
“I was upset about what was happening in Palestine,” Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said. He recalled his brother saying “it was genocide on both sides.”
Jabbar seemed to become more devout after his most recent divorce, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said, but he never talked about ISIS or any radical ideology.
“He was trying to find himself,” he said.
Jabbar posted audio messages about Islam to a SoundCloud account in early 2024. In one titled “The Voice of Satan,” he describes music as the “voice of Satan.”
“It is a gentle and gradual attraction to the things that God has forbidden us: narcotics such as marijuana, alcohol, sedatives, opioids, stimulants and others,” he says. “Then there is the way music incites us to provoke sex, vulgarity, violence, betrayal, arrogance, theft, cheating.”
Pousson, his high school friend, said Jabbar frequently posted about his Islamic faith on Facebook but gave no indication of radicalization.
“It was always positive: peace be upon you, uplifting things,” Pousson said. “Nothing he posted online that I saw was negative.”
“I didn’t see this coming from a mile away,” he added.
One of Jabbar’s neighbors in Texas said he never saw him at the local mosque. “He says he prays at home,” said the neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous.
The neighbor said Jabbar was “nice” and “quiet” and largely kept to himself.
On New Year’s Eve morning, the neighbor said, he saw Jabbar loading a white truck in front of his house. The neighbor stopped by to see if he needed help and Jabbar said he was moving to Louisiana.
“He said he got a job there,” the neighbor recalled.
It was sometime around New Year’s Day when the neighbor learned that Jabbar had traveled to New Orleans for a very different reason.
