The Orleans Parish district attorney’s office has been rocked by violence since ringing in 2025. Not only did an Islamic terrorist apparently murder more than a dozen people in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, but just days later, an assistant district attorney reportedly took his own life.
Around 9 p.m. on Saturday, the New Orleans Police Department received a report about a man who had been found with an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” an initial police report said, according to WWL. First responders then arrived at the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office on South White Street in New Orleans and soon afterward declared the victim dead.
The victim was later identified as Ian Kersting, an assistant district attorney. He was just 34 years old.
‘There will be members of our staff who will require time to cope and heal.’
The DA’s office released two statements about Kersting’s death, WVUE reported. The first statement described Kersting as “a beloved member of our office” and offered love and condolences to Kersting’s family and friends.
“It’s important that we support each other right now, and we ask the media respect the privacy of the individuals impacted,” the first statement added.
The second statement indicated that office business would be suspended on January 6 to give staff time to grieve. Grief and trauma counselors will be available to “the entire OPDA team … in the wake of an unexpected tragedy,” the second statement said.
“We extend our deepest gratitude to the judges of Criminal District Court and Juvenile Court, as well as the Orleans Public Defenders, for their extraordinary compassion and humanity during this challenging time, as there will be members of our staff who will require time to cope and heal.”
The office will resume normal operations on Tuesday, the statement noted.
Kersting had been practicing law about four years at the time of his death. He was admitted to the Louisiana bar in October 2020 and later joined the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative at the DA’s office. SAKI works closely with NOPD on sex-related investigations in which DNA evidence is involved, WVUE reported.
Kersting’s suicide comes on the heels of the horrific massacre of a crowd of people still celebrating in the French Quarter in the early-morning hours of New Year’s Day. According to reports, at around 3:15 a.m., 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar of Texas came speeding down Bourbon Street in a rental truck and mowed down dozens of pedestrians there.
At least 15 people died and 35 were injured.
Jabbar, who soon afterward died in a shoot-out with police, had an ISIS flag in his possession at the time of the incident, the FBI confirmed.
Reports from acquaintances and family indicate that Jabbar had been behaving strangely recently on account of his Muslim beliefs. Dwayne Marsh, who is married to Jabbar’s ex-wife, said Jabbar was “being all crazy” in recent months, “cutting his hair” after converting to Islam.
Jabbar’s brother, Abdur, however, said that Jabbar had converted some time ago. “As far as I know he was a Muslim for most of his life,” Abdur said.
“What he did does not represent Islam. This is more some type of radicalization, not religion.”
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New orleans, New orleans massacre, Ian kersting, Politics, Crime
