A terrorist with suspected links to Islamic State (IS) drove a pick-up truck into crowds of people celebrating the new year on one of America’s most famous party streets on Wednesday.

Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, a US national who served in the military, sped into revellers on Bourbon Street, in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans in the early hours, killing 15 people and injuring at least 35.

An (IS) flag was found on his rented vehicle, the FBI said, alongside other improvised explosives. The FBI on Wednesday night said it believed he did not act alone in a plea for information on his contacts over the last few days.

The pick-up truck struck a crane midway down the street, where it came to a halt before Jabbar, described as being dressed in “full military gear”, got out of the vehicle.

He was then killed in a shoot-out with police after he fired a weapon, striking two officers.

“This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said.

“He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

US President Joe Biden said the FBI found videos that the driver had posted to social media hours before the attack in which he said he was inspired by the IS group and expressed a desire to kill.

Speaking from the presidential retreat at Camp David, he called the attack a “despicable” and “heinous act”.

“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday.

“There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”

Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said: “The shockingly violent attack in New Orleans is horrific. My thoughts are with the victims, their families, the emergency responders and the people of the United States at this tragic time.”

Donald Trump seized on the attack, appearing to blame foreign “criminals” and linking it to illegal migration. His son, Donald Trump Jr, posted on social media: “Biden’s parting gift to America – migrant terrorists.”

The president-elect has promised a mass deportation of illegal migrants when he enters the White House on Jan 20.

Jabbar was born in Texas and served in the US Army for 10 years. His military record also includes a deployment to Afghanistan.

Jabbar had begun to convert to Islam within the last year, his family told US media on Wednesday night.

Bourbon Street, with its famous bars and strip clubs, is synonymous with a drinking and partying culture in the US – something IS and other Islamist terror groups strongly oppose.

Scores of people were spilling out of bars and clubs at around 3.15am when the suspect drove around barriers and ploughed into the crowd, killing 15 people and injuring at least 35.

Footage of the aftermath showed bleeding, lifeless bodies strewn across the street as people tried to tend to them.

Guns and pipe bombs were also found in the vehicle, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday night.

The devices, which were concealed within coolers, were wired for remote detonation, the bulletin said, and a corresponding remote control was discovered inside the vehicle.

X / Gakruks1; X / DrageLiten

“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,”Alethea Duncan, the FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge said of the vehicle attack, adding that investigators were looking into a “range of suspects”.

“We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates.”

Earlier, the FBI said in a statement: “An IS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organisations.”

Ms Kirkpatrick said: “This is not just an act of terrorism, this is evil. And when we face evil, we have a choice – we can run in fear, or we can indeed stand in strength.”

Meanwhile, a cyber truck exploded outside Trump Tower, killing one. There was no suggestion on Wednesday night that the incident was linked to New Orleans.

X / kaaaassuu

Investigators recovered a handgun and an AR-style rifle after the shoot-out, according to sources.

Unverified photos showed a man appearing to wear military clothing on the ground covered in blood beside the truck used in the attack.

Witnesses described seeing “horribly disfigured” bodies strewn across the street, some with visible tyre marks on their body.

Jimmy Cothran, who is from New Orleans, was inside a bar when the attack took place and quickly ran to the balcony to see what had happened.

He told NBC News at least two victims were “at least alive” but others were “graphically deceased”. He said: “It just kept going. Like, every eye shot, body, body, body, body.”

Kevin Garcia, who saw the attack take place, told CNN: “All I seen was a truck slamming into everyone on the left side of Bourbon sidewalk. A body came flying at me.” He said he also heard gunshots being fired.

A couple told CBS News that they heard crashing noises coming from down the street and then saw a white truck slam through a barricade “at a high rate of speed”.

Zion Parsons, 18, told Nola.com that he and his two friends were leaving a Bourbon Street eatery when they heard a commotion and saw a white car barrelling towards them.

He said he dodged the vehicle but one of his friends was struck, with her leg “twisted and contorted above and around her back”.

“You can just look and see bodies, just bodies of people, just bleeding, broken bones,” he said.

An 18-year-old aspiring nurse from Mississippi was named by local media as one the victims killed in the attack.

Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux’s mother confirmed to Nola.com that her daughter was among the fatalities.

Two other victims were named as father-of-two Reggie Hunter, 37, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and former American football player and Princeton graduate Tiger Bech, 27.

A fourth victim was named as Nicoile Perez, 28, a mother of one who was described as “beautiful and full of life”.

In response to vehicle attacks on pedestrian malls around the world, New Orleans was in the process of removing and replacing the steel barriers that restrict vehicle traffic in the Bourbon Street pedestrian zone.

The project’s status at the time of Wednesday’s attack was unclear.

Construction began in November 2024 and was scheduled to continue through to February 5, according to a city website.

Last month, a 50-year-old man was charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder after police said he ploughed a car through crowds at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing five people and injuring scores more.