- Deadly attack in New Orleans
- Attacker is ex-military
- Fire in Las Vegas near Trump's hotel - Tesla Cybertruck electric car explodes
Deadly attack in New Orleans
The suspect - identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, of Texas - drove into a crowd in New Orleans on New Year's Eve, an FBI statement said.
The agency said that on Wednesday, at around 3.15 p.m. local time, the suspect drove a pick-up truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. He then got out of the car and opened fire on police. The officers also opened fire and killed the assailant on the spot. Two wounded policemen were hospitalized[1].
Louisiana spokesman Troy Carter told ABC News that the death toll in the incident had risen from 10 to 15 people, with another 25 hospitalized. Initially, 10 deaths and 30 injuries were reported (later, 35 casualties were reported).
Among the victims was a University of Georgia student. According to Jere Morehead, President of the educational institution, the young man "was seriously injured in the terrorist attack and is receiving treatment". The Israeli Foreign Ministry reported that two Israeli citizens were injured in the attack.
Sh. Jabar, 42, a US citizen and resident of Texas, was driving a Ford pick-up truck which was apparently rented, the FBI said. Earlier reports indicated that the attacker had rented the car through the car rental company Turo.
According to an ABC News source, a pick-up truck allegedly involved in the attack was spotted in northern Harris County, Texas, at around 10.15 a.m. and again at 11.10 a.m. local time on Tuesday. Shortly after noon, the car was spotted in the town of Beytown.
According to Fox News, the truck involved in the attack had a Texas license plate. On 16 November, the car was spotted crossing the southern border of the USA in Long Beach, Texas[2].
FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said at a press conference that the agency is working to determine how the subject took possession of the vehicle.
"We do not believe that Sh. Jabar was the sole perpetrator," she said. - We are actively checking all theories, including those related to his known accomplices."
The FBI revealed that an ISIS flag and improvised explosive devices were found in the attacker's car. The agency is working to identify the suspect's possible connections and links to terrorist organizations.
"Weapons and an improvised explosive device were found in the suspect's car. Other possible improvised explosive devices were also found in the French Quarter," the FBI stated. - FBI explosives experts are working with our law enforcement partners to determine whether any of these devices are usable."
Duncan told a press conference that "two improvised explosive devices have now been recovered and destroyed"[3].
Attacker is ex-military
Later, CNN interlocutors reported that one of the videos in the possession of the investigators showed three men and a woman who may have been involved in the planting of improvised explosive devices in the French Quarter. Investigators have also found footage that likely supports the FBI's version that the Islamic State organized the attack, the sources said.
CNN sources indicated that the suspect had previously served in the US Army, but the information was not immediately confirmed. The channel has contacted the Pentagon for comment. Duncan later confirmed that Jabar was an army veteran.
"We believe he was honorably discharged, but we are working on the matter and finding out all the details," she clarified.
According to ABC News, according to a YouTube video posted in 2020 and since removed from the platform, Jabar claims to have been born in Beaumont, Texas, and to have worked for ten years in the US Army as a human resources and information technology specialist before becoming a real estate agent in Houston.
In the same message, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry announced that he had issued an emergency decree to mobilize federal, state, and local resources. He also ordered a military police unit to assist New Orleans law enforcement, Louisiana State Police and the FBI[4].
Fire in Las Vegas near Trump's hotel - Tesla Cybertruck electric car explodes
One person was killed and seven others were injured in an explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck electric pickup truck near the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, NBC News reports, citing a statement from Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Touchstone.
According to the information available, the driver drove into a hotel parking lot and the car exploded. The man driving the vehicle was killed and people nearby suffered minor injuries, officials said.
The circumstances of the incident are under investigation, but authorities are not ruling out the possibility of a terrorist attack, ABC News reports. A source told the channel that pyrotechnics were found in the car. It is not clear whether what happened was a malicious act.
"We don't know what we don't know," said Las Vegas Police Chief Kevin McMahill.
Eric Trump, son of the US President-elect and Vice President of the Trump Organization, posted on the social network "X" after the incident that a fire had broken out in the lobby of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas and was suspected to have been caused by an electric car[5].
"The management of the Trump International Hotel expressed "sincere appreciation to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their quick response and professionalism".
The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is owned by the Trump Organization and American businessman Phil Ruffin, according to NBC News.
Elon Musk, a businessman whose company produces Cybertruck cars, wrote on the X network that "the Tesla team is now investigating the case". He added that "we will post more information as soon as we know something" and that "we've never seen anything like this before".
Later, a source told ABC News that the Cybertruck's cabin "had a lot of grenade launchers that looked like fireworks". Investigators are investigating whether the driver intended to organize the explosion and why. On Thursday afternoon, information emerged that another ex-military man, 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, was suspected of blowing up the pick-up.
"We can now confirm that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb that was in the back of the rented Cybertruck and was unrelated to the vehicle itself," wrote Musk on X. "At the time of the explosion, all telemetry readings on the vehicle were normal."
The billionaire later added that "it looks like a terrorist act". According to him, "both this Cybertruck and the F-150 blown up by a suicide bomber in New Orleans were rented from the Turo office. The businessman admitted that "maybe they are somehow connected".
