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

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The New Orleans New Year’s Eve attack was an “act of terrorism” unrelated to the Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas just hours later, according to the FBI’s assessment.

Meanwhile, the investigation New Orleans attack The FBI has said in its early stages that it believes the alleged perpetrator, US Army veteran Shamsud-Deen Jabbar, acted alone.

“This was an act terrorism. It was a premeditated and malicious act,” FBI Deputy Director Christopher Ryan said Thursday. “At the moment, we are sure that there are no accomplices [sic]”.

Ryan added that “at this point there is no definitive link between the New Orleans attack here and the Las Vegas attack,” though he said the FBI is not ruling anything out.

Fourteen people were killed and 35 injured when a man drove his pickup truck into a large crowd and opened fire in the heart of New Orleans early on New Year’s morning.

The FBI said an IS flag was found on the truck and the agency is investigating the suspect’s possible ties to terrorist organizations.Jabbar was killed in a shootout with police, bringing the death toll to 15.

Two “functional” improvised explosive devices were later found in refrigerators in the heart of the city’s historic French Quarter, Raia said, adding that both explosives were “safe” at the scene.

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

Investigators said they began piecing together a timeline for the attack.Jabbar picked up a rented Ford F-150 pickup truck in Houston, Texas, on Dec. 30 and then drove east to New Orleans the next day.

In Facebook videos posted along the way, Jabbar declared his support for IS and said he had originally planned to target family and friends but was “concerned that the headlines would not focus on a war between believers and non-believers,” Raya said.

The FBI added that the attacker claimed to have joined IS in the summer and provided a will.

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

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

“We are outraged by this shameful and senseless act of violence and are doing our best to assist the authorities in their investigation,” he added.

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

The Army also confirmed that Matthew Alan Leavelsberger, the driver of the Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas, was a serving U.S. soldier assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and on approved leave at the time of his death.

Leavelsberger began his military career in 2006 and served on active duty until 2011, when he transferred 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 it says is connected to the Las Vegas bombing.

Additional reporting by Felicia Schwartz in Washington