Morning, y’all, and happy New Year. Temperatures are hovering around 30 degrees this morning, but we should warm up to 50 or so later on.
Let’s get straight to the deadly attack in New Orleans: including the suspect’s ties to Georgia, an injured UGA student and a rescheduled bowl game.
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DEATH ON BOURBON STREET
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Early Wednesday morning, a man drove a pickup truck into crowds of revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 15 people and injuring about three dozen more. The attacker died in a subsequent shootout with police.
Thousands of University of Georgia fans, students and alumni were in the city ahead of the football team’s appearance in the Sugar Bowl.
Here’s what we know.
The victims: Authorities have not publicly named any of the deceased or wounded. But president Jere W. Morehead said a UGA student suffered critical injuries during the attack — and officials from her South Florida high school later identified her as 19-year-old Elle Eisele.
- “I have spoken to the student’s family and shared my concern, support and well wishes on behalf of the entire UGA community,” Morehead said in a statement.
The suspect: The FBI identified the now-deceased driver as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran from Texas. But the AJC found he also had deep Georgia connections.
- Records show Jabbar previously lived in both Marietta and Clarkston.
- DeKalb County court filings show he filed for divorce from a Cobb County woman in 2016, after about three years of marriage.
- Georgia State University confirmed Jabbar earned a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems in 2017.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
The investigation: Authorities say they found an ISIS flag in Jabbar’s truck and are reportedly investigating a series of videos he posted on social media. They also do not believe Jabbar acted alone.
- Police say they found several improvised explosive devices in the French Quarter neighborhood.
The FBI is actively soliciting information from the public, including any photos or video footage from before, during and after the attack. Those can be submitted here.
The game: Officials announced Wednesday afternoon plans to delay the Sugar Bowl, which serves as a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game. Kickoff’s now set for 4 p.m. Eastern today.
“The mood is somber — so many of us were so close to real tragedy,” Scott Johnson, a Bulldog fan from Cobb County, told the AJC from New Orleans. “It’s hard to feel like celebrating or think about football when innocent lives were taken just yards away.”
- Columnist Ken Sugiura put it this way: “We’re all a little further away from the kind of world that makes sense and that we want to inhabit.”
The AJC has journalists on the ground in New Orleans and across metro Atlanta covering this developing story. Stay tuned to AJC.com for the latest.
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A BRIGHTER FUTURE
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
A gaggle of AJC reporters recently touched base with notable Atlantans to ask them what they think the city’s 2025 New Year’s resolutions should be. It’s worth reading the whole thing — but here are a few of my favorites!
- Andy Stanley, pastor and founder of North Point Ministries: “My wish is that each of us would stop to consider the lived experience of the people around us … and treat one another accordingly.”
- Fahamu Pecou, renowned artist: “My wish for the city is to lean into all things that make us dope and desirable (and to do something about the traffic because that really does suck!)”
- Karin Slaughter, bestselling author: “The city should fix the pot holes, specifically the ones on my street and the ones along the route to my local Kroger. I think people feel better when the city attends to the basic things.”
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IT’S MY MONEY AND I WANT IT NOW
When businesses violate labor laws, the feds take wages that should’ve been paid to workers and hold them. In Georgia, more than $1.8 million is still lying around waiting to be claimed.
- Here’s how to find out if you’re missing out on money in your pocket.
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INTRIGUING DEVELOPMENTS
» Developers claim a truly enormous data center campus proposed for Coweta County would be worth nearly $17 billion when its complete.
» In Doraville, the $300-million plan to redevelop a former Kmart site is picking up steam again. Nearly 800 apartments and the city’s tallest building could be forthcoming.
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A MAN OF MUSIC
Credit: AJC file photo/Jerome McClendon
Credit: AJC file photo/Jerome McClendon
As memorial services for former President Jimmy Carter approach, the AJC took a look at his lifelong affiliation with musicians — from his trendsetting campaign approach to his personal life.
“Carter was a progressive Southerner and he wanted to appeal to younger voters,” said Peter Conlon, an Atlanta-based music promoter. That meant embracing everything from jazz to Southern rock.
- Georgia rappers later found a muse in Carter, too.
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MMM, FOOD
More than 200 restaurants, food hall stalls, breweries, bakeries and coffee shops opened around Atlanta in 2024 — and we’ve got a list of every one! Check it out and get 2025 kicked off in (culinary) style.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
» Shooting at Atlanta nightclub leaves one dead, two injured
» Hawks’ winning streak ends at four games with road loss to Nuggets
» Delta maintains high on-time ranking for 2024 despite CrowdStrike fallout
» Retired WSB-TV consumer investigative reporter Jim Strickland dead at 65
» ‘Like a hurricane’: Atlanta attorneys warn immigrants of Trump return
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ON THIS DATE
Jan. 2, 1974
President Richard Nixon signed a bill setting a national maximum speed limit of 55 miles per hour — a move aimed at saving gas amid an oil embargo imposed by Middle Eastern nations protesting the West’s support of Israel.
Congress repealed the law in 1995 and you can now (theoretically!) cruise Georgia’s highways at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour.
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Jenni Girtman for the AJC
Credit: Jenni Girtman for the AJC
AJC contributor Jenni Girtman caught 5-year-old Amelia Rodriguez and dad Daniel waiting for the New Year’s Peach Drop at Underground Atlanta.
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ONE MORE THING
Check out the first babies born in 2025 at hospitals around metro Atlanta. Photos included!
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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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