The former commanding officer of New Orleans’ attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar has spoken out on social media about the soldiers’ disturbing radicalization.
Jabbar, 42, from Houston, killed 14 people and injured 35 others in the early hours of Wednesday morning after he rammed a truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street before being shot dead by police.
Col. Richard Groen, his former commanding officer, explained in an X post Thursday that Jabbar had “served under [his] Troop Command during our deployment to Afghanistan.”
Groen described Jabbar’s transition from a “great soldier” to someone who “could harbor so much hate” as “incomprehensible and heartbreaking.”
As Jabbar drove the truck, a series of his videos appeared online which showed him professing his support for ISIS.
The 42-year-old veteran claimed to have joined ISIS in the summer before he planted explosive devices in the area before the attack.
“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”, Groen added.
He described how the devastating events that unfolded in New Orleans had left him in a state of “utter disbelief”, adding: “This transformation is a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked anger, isolation, and hate.”
During his tenure as a soldier Jabbar “worked quietly and professionally in the S1 shop [an administrative unit] and as a mail clerk, ensuring the little things that kept us all connected to home were done with care and precision.
“He was a great soldier, someone who showed discipline and dedication”, Groen added.
Jabbar’s high school friend Chris Pousson told NBC that he had posted several times on Facebook about his Islamic faith but never gave any indication of radicalization.
“It was always positive — peace be with you, uplifting type of stuff.
“Nothing that he posted online that I saw was negative.
“I didn’t see this coming from a mile away,” he added.
Equally, a neighbor of Jabbar’s in Texas told the outlet, that he never saw him attend a mosque, claiming that “he says he prays at home”.
According to NBC, the neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, said Jabbar was “nice” and “quiet” and mostly kept to himself.
On New Year’s Eve, he saw Jabbar loading a white truck and when he asked if he had needed a hand, Jabbar informed him that he was moving to Louisiana.
“He said he got a job over there”, stated the neighbor to NBC.
But that neighbor grimly discovered on New Year’s Day that Jabbar had traveled to New Orleans for a more sinister purpose.
Groen, despaired at the incident asking people to “watch out for one another” in the aftermath of the deadly attack and to support those, even those who seemed “distant or troubled”.
The colonel also urged those affected by the attack to “find strength in this time of unimaginable grief” and rallied people to “stand together against hate in all its forms.”
When directly approached for comment, Groen told The Independent he was unable to comment any further on the matter.