Federal Officials Release New Details on Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s Short-Term Rental Fire
Federal officials have released new information about a fire set by Shamsud-Din Jabbar at a short-term rental in New Orleans, mere hours before he carried out a deadly attack on New Year’s Day, killing 14 people.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Jabbar started the fire using an open flame at around 12:15 a.m. on January 1, 2025, roughly four hours before the attack in the French Quarter.
The fire was started in the linen closet next to the washer and dryer, a closed-off area of the hallway that leads to other rooms of the residence. Accidental materials were also placed in other areas, which were intended to “destroy evidence of his crimes.” However, the fire eventually died out on its own, with the agencies stating that it had exhausted its oxygen and fuel in the isolated section of the residence and was not connected to the accelerants in the other rooms.
At around 5:18 a.m., a neighbor reported smelling smoke near the residence, prompting a 911 call. The New Orleans Fire Department responded and put out the smoldering fire, and law enforcement secured the location.
The FBI had previously stated that the smoldering of the fire allowed agents to recover evidence from the rental home, including “pre-cursors for bomb-making material and a privately made device suspected of being a silencer for a rifle.” The ATF investigation found that Jabbar purchased one of the rifles used in the attack from an individual in Texas on November 19. The seller, who did not know Jabbar, was unaware of his radical beliefs.
Agents also discovered evidence of RDX, or cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine, an explosive, at the rental home. However, Jabbar made a critical mistake by selecting explosive material designed to be set off by a detonator, and using an electric match to set the explosives off instead was a sign of inexperience.
