Surveillance footage from a fast-food restaurant on Bourbon Street provides chilling new perspectives on the tragic New Year’s Day attack when Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove his truck into a crowd of people. The restaurant, a Krystal location at 116 Bourbon Street in New Orleans, sat directly in the truck’s path during the horrifying incident.
Al Morris, the manager of the Krystal, shared the footage and described the terrifying moments when the truck raced past his restaurant. The newly released camera angles paint a vivid picture of the chaos that unfolded.
The first angle, which many have already seen online, shows groups of pedestrians enjoying a night out, strolling along Bourbon Street. Suddenly, the headlights of Jabbar’s truck appear in the frame. As the vehicle picks up speed, people scramble desperately to get out of its way, some diving for safety onto the sidewalk or into the Krystal. One woman barely escaped being hit, missing the truck by mere feet.
“She was just two feet away from that truck speeding at 65 miles an hour,” Morris recalled. “She was very lucky, thank God she wasn’t hit.”
Another camera angle offers a view of the street from the opposite side. At first, pedestrians seem confused to see a truck on the famously crowded, pedestrian-heavy street. But as the truck gains speed, confusion quickly turns to panic.
Inside the Krystal, a camera near the front door shows groups of people chatting and enjoying their meals. Suddenly, a loud crash reverberates through the restaurant, and a wave of frightened people pushes through the doorway. Through the windows, the truck can be seen racing past, leaving chaos in its wake.
“I heard this loud, loud noise,” Morris said, describing the moment. “It sounded like metal hitting metal. The truck was going so fast… I told my team, ‘This is not good. Lock the doors.’”
The final angle, captured further inside the restaurant, shows patrons sitting at tables, enjoying their food and conversations. Everything seems normal—until terrified pedestrians start flooding in, some diving under tables for cover. As the truck roars past, people inside the restaurant realize something terrible is happening and rush to the windows to see what’s going on.
Morris described the scene as surreal and frightening, saying it was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
The incident left Bourbon Street shaken, and the video footage serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerability people face in crowded public spaces. For those who were there, it was a night they will never forget.
