Authorities are looking for a possible connection between the attack in New Orleans that killed 15 people and the explosion of a Telsa Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, which occurred just hours after each other on New Year's Day.
President Biden said Wednesday that federal investigators were looking for connections, but “there is nothing to report so far.” Sources familiar with the investigation said it was still in its early stages and no conclusions were expected to be made at this point.
In New Orleans, authorities are also investigating whether the man who attacked revelers on Bourbon Street had accomplices.
Law enforcement sources told the Times that what appeared to be two homemade pipe bombs with nails placed in blue coolers were found near two restaurants on the famous Strip. This led authorities to believe that someone other than the driver had placed them there, the sources said.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, drove a rented pickup truck bearing the Islamic State group's flag onto a sidewalk, avoiding a police car that was blocking car traffic, authorities said.
Police killed Jabbar after he got out of the truck and opened fire on officers, police said.
Police officials told the Times that Jabbar was wearing body armor. After the shooting, investigators recovered a handgun and an AR-style rifle, a law enforcement official said. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, served on active duty in human resources and information technology and was stationed in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He joined the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.
Biden said Wednesday evening that the FBI had found videos the driver posted on social media hours before the attack in which he said he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressed a desire to kill.
In a video on YouTube, Jabbar said he was born in Beaumont, Texas, and worked in human resources and information technology during his time in the Army. He described himself as a property manager and real estate agent.
The FBI is also investigating the explosion of fuel canisters and firework mortars packed in the back of a Cybertruck outside the president-elect's Las Vegas mansion near the famed Strip, which killed the driver and slightly injured seven bystanders, officials said.
At a news conference Wednesday evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said the truck that exploded outside the Trump Hotel was rented in Colorado. An electronic license plate reader recorded the Cybertruck arriving in Las Vegas around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, McMahill said, adding that the driver drove up and down the Las Vegas Strip for about an hour before pulling into the covered driveway turned into the Trump Hotel. He said the vehicle exploded about 15 seconds later.
McMahill said the department confirmed the name of the person who rented the Cybertruck, but did not say whether that person was the driver killed in the explosion. The driver's name will not be released until authorities have “100 percent identification,” he said.
Law enforcement sources told the Times that the vehicle was filmed by a surveillance camera driving past the Trump Tower valet area and returning an hour before the incident; stop at the front doors. The vehicle was stopped for about 15 seconds before exploding. The video shows what appears to be fireworks going off during the fire, the sources said. They are trying to find out if the deceased had a military background.
Investigators have not yet determined how the driver ignited the fireworks and the gasoline and camping fuel canisters in the back of the vehicle, McMahill said.
McMahill said investigators are looking into whether the driver of a Tesla vehicle intentionally targeted one of Trump's properties. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a close adviser to the president-elect.
The Cybertruck involved in the Las Vegas incident and the Ford pickup used in the New Orleans attack were rented through Turo, a platform that allows people to rent cars directly from vehicle owners.
A company spokesman said Turo was cooperating with law enforcement but did not believe that either tenant “had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security risk.”