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Law enforcement officials have said they believe that Shamsud-Din Jabbar is solely responsible for the deadly New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans.
Jabbar, 42, killed at least 14 people and injured dozens after evading police barriers and ramming a truck into a crowd of revellers on New Orleans’s Bourbon Street on Wednesday morning. Police shot and killed Jabbar.
The FBI is now looking at the possible link between Jabbar, a US citizen and Army veteran, and the driver in the Tesla Cybertruck blast outside Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel which took place just hours earlier.
Matthew Livelsberger, 37, a former Army veteran of Colorado Springs, was allegedly behind the wheel when the vehicle exploded, according to local media reports. Livelsberger and Jabbar are believed to have served at the same military base, sources told Denver7.
Officials have found no “definitive” evidence tying the two attacks together, despite superficial similarities.
President Joe Biden said that Jabbar was “inspired by ISIS” and had a “desire to kill. He said: “I know while this person committed a terrible assault on the city, the spirit of our New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated. It always will shine forth.”
‘We can’t believe he’s alive’
A Pennsylvania man in a wheelchair hit in the New Orleans truck attack endured a harrowing night of medical treatment but appears to be improving, his family says.
Jeremi Sensky, 51, was ejected from his chair in the attack and left with bruises to the face and head, plus two broken legs.
After 10 hours of surgery, doctors were able to remove Sensky from a ventilator.
“We thought he was dead,” his daughter, Heaven Sensky-Kirsch, told The Asssociated Press. “We can’t believe he’s alive.”
Josh Marcus2 January 2025 20:20
‘New Orleans is very secure’: LA Attorney General
Louisiana officials are trying to reassure members of the public that New Orleans is safe and marquee events like the Sugar Bowl can go forward after Wednesday’s truck attack.
“The @SugarBowlNola needed to go forward,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill wrote on X. “This was always a game-time decision. I believe New Orleans is very secure. We can honor the lives that were lost by not bowing down to fear brought on by a cowardly terrorist attack.”
Josh Marcus2 January 2025 19:59
Too soon to rule out or confirm link between New Orleans and Vegas attacks
Las Vegas police said on Thursday they don’t have enough information to confirm or rule out a possible link between the explosion outside a Trump hotel in Vegas on Wednesday and the New Orleans truck attack that took place earlier that day.
The incidents have passing similarities—the people of interest in both incidents served in the U.S. military, including at the same base, and both used rented trucks—but officials haven’t found any definitive link to suggest a wider, coordinated plot.
For now, officials are urging people not to reach conclusions until more investigative work can be done.
“If these turned out to be simply similarities, very strange similarities to have,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said. “We’re not prepared to rule in or rule out anything at this point. There’s lots more for us to do in this investigation. We haven’t even gotten into the phones and the computers.”
Josh Marcus2 January 2025 19:23
Fans still flocking to Sugar Bowl, despite New Orleans attack
The New Orleans truck attack hasn’t stopped football fans from assembling at the Caesars Superdome for the college football Sugar Bowl.
The game, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed to today.
Officials have installed heightened security measures around the stadium, including scores of police officers and bomb-sniffing dogs.
Josh Marcus2 January 2025 19:20
‘No record’ New Orleans attacker overlapped with Las Vegas person of interest in Afghanistan
Officials are investigating whether there’s any possible link between the New Orleans truck attack early on Wednesday and an explosion set off in a Tesla Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas later that day.
So far, officials haven’t found any clear link between the two incidents, and Las Vegas officials added further reason for scrutiny on Thursday.
New Orleans attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar and Vegas person of interest Matthew Alan Livelsberger both served in the U.S. military Afghanistan in 2009 and were stationed at one point at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg), North Carolina.
However, there’s no evidence Jabbar and Livelsberger overlapped overseas or at the North Carolina base, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a Thursday press conference.
“It’s a very large military base,” McMahill said. “We have no record they served in the same unit, or even the same years at Fort Bragg.”
Josh Marcus2 January 2025 19:15
FBI digging through social media for clues on Jabbar
Emerging information suggests Shamsud-Din Jabbar was motivated by religious fanaticism.
Officials are now combing through social media to understand more about what drove the Texas man to ram a group of civilians in New Orleans with his truck.
“So what I can tell you right now is that he was 100 percent inspired by ISIS, and so we’re digging, we’re digging through more of the social media, more interviews, working with some of our other partners to ascertain a little bit more,” FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said on Wednesday.
Josh Marcus2 January 2025 19:00
WATCH: New Orleans attacker believed in ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers’
Josh Marcus2 January 2025 18:40
Biden convenes homeland security team in Situation Room for briefing just after noon
President Joe Biden convened members of his homeland security team in the Situation Room to receive an update on the New Orleans attack on Thursday at about 12:15 p.m. ET, according to a senior White House press secretary.
James Liddell2 January 2025 18:20
