Nola Terrorist Home: Is It Normal for the FBI to Leave This Much Evidence Behind?

This is good journalism. It’s quite the scoop, but how is it that the FBI left so much evidence behind from the home of a person who just committed a terrorist attack? The New York Post was on scene at the residence of Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, who committed the New Orleans terror attack on New Year’s Day, which killed 14 people.

EXCLUSIVE TOUR of the NOLA terrorists home—-

where we found a bomb-making station and a Quran open to a chilling passage about martyrdom @nypost https://t.co/LKV7npCOE5 pic.twitter.com/a1znIURjyM
— Jennie Taer 🎗️ (@JennieSTaer) January 2, 2025

The press was at his Houston home hours before the FBI, who arrived, kicked out the media, and cordoned off the area. They did take items for their investigation, but many were commenting that it’s a bit shocking they’re allowing the press to enter this crime scene so soon. Also, they left a lot of materials behind. The publication already had a good preliminary story about Jabbar, including his financial hardships, which resulted from two divorces (via NY Post):

BREAKING: "New Orleans ISIS terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar had a workbench in his bedroom that was set up for making bombs – while a Quran on his bookshelf nearby was left open to a passage about “slaying” in the name of Allah, exclusive photos obtained by The Post show." via… pic.twitter.com/MPj0twCUuc
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 3, 2025

The FBI is already allowing the press in? https://t.co/1eGssY55xI
— Merissa Hansen (@merissahansen17) January 2, 2025

Lots of items in this home left behind by federal investigators that should currently be in an FBI analysis lab or evidence room. Absolutely bizarre. https://t.co/9AOCBrL9eU
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) January 2, 2025

Jabbar’s north Houston home was filled with chemical residue and chemical bottles, while an inventory of items seized by the FBI — left behind by investigators who raided his house on Wednesday — included a long list of compounds used in bomb-making.
His Quran was propped atop a bookshelf, a centerpiece in his living room, and open to a passage reading, “they fight in Allah’s cause, and slay and are slain; a promise binding…”
[…]
Numerous books about Islam were also on the shelf and around the squalid home, while a prayer rug was rolled up nearby.
FBI officials on Thursday said Jabbar posted five disturbing videos on Facebook on his drive from Houston to New Orleans just hours before he unleashed carnage on Bourbon Street, leaving 14 innocent pedestrians dead.
[…]
In the first disturbing video — posted at 1:29 a.m. — the US Army veteran said he had initially planned on murdering his family and friends, but changed his mind over concerns the resulting media coverage wouldn’t focus on the “war between the believers and disbelievers,” FBI counterterrorism official Chris Raia said.
In other videos, he said he had joined ISIS “before this summer” and showed off his last will and testament.
Investigators confirmed Jabbar, 42, was ideologically aligned with ISIS and that he specifically chose Bourbon Street as the target of his monstrous act of terror.
[…]
The IT whiz was on a legitimate career path until apparently falling on hard times both personally and financially.
He contended with two failed marriages and faced mounting debt before he murdered 14 innocent pedestrians and injured dozens more with an explosive-laden Ford F-150 truck bearing the black flag of the jihadist group.
[…]
…from 2019 to 2021 he worked at EY — also a Big 4 firm — as a cloud consulting manager before landing a gig at yet another top consultancy, Deloitte, where he earned a salary of $125,000.
Meanwhile, Jabbar’s family life was in turmoil.
His first wife — from whom he separated in 2012 — got custody of the couple’s children, while he was ordered to pay child support as well as for their medical insurance.
He remarried in 2017, but three years later his second marriage hit the skids, his ex was granted a restraining order which prohibited Jabbar from sending her obscene or threatening messages, threatening “bodily injury” to her or the couple’s child, the outlet reported.
During the divorce proceedings — which came after a failed attempt by the couple to reconcile — Jabbar provided a statement to the court claiming financial hardship, with $7,500 a month in income and just shy of $9,000 in liabilities.

Jabbar also left multiple IEDs in and around Bourbon Street before he plowed bystanders and later opened fire into the crowd. Police neutralized him quickly.

FBI officials just released a photo of one of the coolers that they say contained an IED placed by Jabbar in New Orleans.

This one was near the intersection of Bourbon and Orleans Street. pic.twitter.com/ZkvIQFlySc
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) January 2, 2025

The FBI has released new surveillance photos showing Shamsud-Din Jabbar a little more than an hour before the Bourbon Street terror attack. The bureau is asking witnesses who may have passed him on the street or may have seen his blue ice chest containing an IED to contact them. pic.twitter.com/kqRZYKkrvC
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) January 2, 2025