New Orleans attack an ‘act of terrorism’ unrelated to Tesla blast, says FBI

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According to the FBI’s assessment, the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans was an “act of terrorism” unrelated to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas.

During the investigation Dr Attack on New Orleans While it’s early stages, the FBI says it believes the alleged perpetrator, U.S. Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, acted alone.

“It was a job terrorism. This was a premeditated and evil act,” Deputy Assistant FBI Director Christopher Rea said Thursday. “We are confident at this point that there are no accomplices [sic]”

Raia added that “at this point, there is no definite link between the attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas,” though he said the FBI is not ruling anything out.

Fourteen people were killed and 35 injured when a man drove a pick-up truck into a large crowd early on New Year’s Day in the heart of New Orleans.

The FBI said an ISIS flag was found on the truck and the agency is investigating the suspect’s possible links to the terrorist organization. When Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police, the death toll rose to 15.

Raia said two “functional” improvised explosive devices were found in coolers in the heart of the city’s historic French Quarter. He added that two IEDs were “unsafe” at the scene.

Three phones and two laptops linked to Jabbar were recovered from the search and authorities are examining them for possible leads.

Investigators said they are beginning to piece together a timeline of the attack. Jabbar picked up a rented Ford F-150 pick-up truck in Houston, Texas on December 30 and drove east to New Orleans the next day.

Jabbar posted Facebook videos on the way declaring his support for Isis, and said he originally planned to target family and friends, but was “concerned that the headlines would not focus on the war between believers and infidels”, Raia said.

The FBI added the attacker joined ISIS over the summer and claimed to have created a will.

Hours after the New Orleans attack, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. President Joe Biden said Wednesday night that authorities were investigating whether it was connected to the attack in New Orleans.

Jabber, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas, was a U.S. Army veteran who worked at consulting firm Deloitte, where he held a “staff-level role” through 2021, the company said Thursday.

“We are outraged by this shameful and senseless act of violence and are doing everything we can to assist the authorities in their investigation,” it added.

The Army said Jabbar served as a human resources and information technology specialist between 2007 and 2020. He was deployed to Afghanistan between February 2009 and January 2010.

The military also confirmed that the driver of the Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas, Matthew Alan Leavelsberger, is a serving US soldier. At the time of his death, the master sergeant was assigned to the US Army Special Operations Command and was on authorized leave.

Livelsberger began his military career in 2006 and served on active duty until 2011 before transferring to the National Guard, where he served for about a year. After a brief stint in the Army Reserves, he rejoined active duty in late 2012.

The FBI said Thursday it is searching a Colorado Springs residence believed to be connected to the Las Vegas bombings.

Additional reporting by Felicia Schwartz in Washington