FBI Says New Orleans Attacker Acted Alone, No Link Found to Las Vegas Bomber

The FBI sees “no definitive link between the attack in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas” but it is “very early in the investigation,” the FBI’s deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, Christopher Raia, said Thursday. Law enforcement authorities are scouring for tips on two incidents — a bomber who ignited a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel at Las Vegas on New Year’s Day and a terrorist attacker who mowed down New Year’s revelers at New Orleans.Matthew Livelsberger of Colorado Springs died while perpetrating the Las Vegas explosion. Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a rented Ford pickup truck through Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring dozens. Both electric vehicles were rented from the same car rental app, Turo.“We are following up on all potential leads, and not ruling anything out,” Mr. Raia said during a briefing at New Orleans. “We do not assess at this point that anyone else is involved in this attack except Shamsud-Din Jabbar.” Investigators are currently poring through more than 400 tips they have received at New Orleans and across the country regarding Jabbar and his attack on Bourbon Street.They have also uncovered a series of videos he posted online in which he proclaimed his support of ISIS as well as explaining why he was carrying out his deadly act of terror.“There were five videos posted on Jabbar’s Facebook account which are time stamped beginning at 1:29 a.m. and the last at 3:02 a.m. In the first video, Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers,’” Mr. Raia said. “Additionally, he stated he had joined ISIS before this summer. He also provided a will and testimony.”Investigators have recovered a number of devices belonging to Jabbar including three cell phones and two laptops. They were recovered at a home in the St. Roch Neighborhood near the French Quarter along with bomb making materials.Bomb technicians for the FBI also recovered two IEDs near the scene that were stored in coolers.“There were multiple reports of other devices. Those reports turned out to be misinformation or not actual functioning devices. Those are the only two devices that we’ve been able to recover that were functional,” Mr Raia said. “Both devices were rendered safe on scene. We did obtain surveillance footage showing Jabbar placing the devices where they were found.”He added that they are looking to speak to anyone who was in contact with the coolers before the attack.“That includes people spotted near one of the two IEDs on Bourbon Street. The IED was inside a cooler and many people stopped and looked at the cooler and then continued on their way. We want to speak to them as witnesses and want to know what they saw.” Mr. Raia also addressed reports that the attack by Jabbar may have been linked to the Cyber Truck Explosion at Las Vegas hours later.“We are following up on all potential leads and not ruling everything out. However, at this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas,” he said. “I’ll preface everything with what I started with in the beginning, which was this is very early in an investigation like this.”The two attackers, both Army veterans, served at the same military base, Fort Liberty in North Carolina, and were both stationed in Afghanistan, but it was not immediately clear if they knew each other. Jabbar left reservist service in 2020. Livelsberger was on approved leave from his special operations command unit when he blew up the truck at Las Vegas, according to an Army statement given to the New York Sun. Police have not confirmed if the men were known to each other. However, authorities in Nevada said they are investigating a potential link.“Do I think it’s a coincidence? I don’t know,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill told the Daily Mail. “We’re absolutely looking into any connections to New Orleans.”In a separate press conference on Thursday afternoon, Sheriff McMahill gave an update on what was discovered in the cyber truck, including the body of the driver.“[T]he subject inside wasn’t able to be removed for a very long period of time because he was burnt beyond recognition,” he said but confirmed that Livelsberger’s military ID, Passport and several credit cards were discovered along with the body. “I do still not have confirmation 100 percent that that is the individual that was inside of our vehicle and so as I’m calling it now a subject or person of interest. I will not come back until I have the confirmations or DNA or medical records that this is indeed the subject inside of the vehicle.”Sheriff McMahill also said that the person in the vehicle had shot himself in the head and is believed to have died before the explosion, and that they have “a lot of confidence” that it is Livelsberger, saying that the body had two tattoos that matched what was previously known to be on his body.He also confirmed reports that both Mr. Livelsberger and Mr. Jabbar had both been stationed at Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg and both also served in Afghanistan in 2009.“What we do know about that is it’s a very large military base and we have no record that they served in the same unit or even at the same years at Fort Bragg, something that continues to remain under investigation,” the sheriff said. “We don’t have any evidence that they were in the same province in Afghanistan, the same location or the same unit.”Despite indications to the contrary with Livelsberger’s choice of a Tesla and location for the explosion, he was said to have been an ardent supporter of President Trump. A senior law-enforcement official told the Daily Beast that investigators learned of his political leanings through interviews with “loved ones” backing up comments made by his uncle in a recent interview.“He loved Trump, and he was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American,” Dean Livelsberger said to The Independent. “It’s one of the reasons he was in Special Forces for so many years.”The FBI, which is leading the investigation for the attack on Bourbon Street, said it is conducting “a number of court-authorized search warrants in New Orleans and other states.” New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said in an interview on NBC’S “Today” that the FBI is “tracking down everybody” but stopped short of specifying who is being sought and what their connection may be to the truck attack. “We have people of interest.” Ms. Kirkpatrick said. “They are not people who are suspects at this time.”The investigation into possible accomplices intensified following the FBI’s initial assertion that the 3:15 a.m. crash at New Orleans was not terrorism related. The bureau later amended its stance as evidence pointed to a premeditated attack that suggested Jabbar had help planning the act.“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” FBI Special Agent Alethea Duncan said at a press conference Wednesday, adding that weapons and a potential IED were located in his car and another two makeshift bombs were found at the French Quarter before being defused by bomb squad technicians.Surveillance video has surfaced that shows the terrifying moment when Jabber plowed his pickup into a group of pedestrians at a high speed. Separately, the Daily Mail reported that investigators are looking into the possibility that Jabbar had rented an AirBnB property near the French Quarter to plan the attack and put together the improvised explosive device that was found in his truck. Bomb-making materials were removed from the home.Jabbar had been living in squalor at a trailer park on the outskirts of Houston, according to reports.Just hours after the attack, law enforcement stormed his home to search for evidence at the suspect’s last known address — a double-wide trailer where geese, chickens, and sheep roamed freely in the yard.Residents at the trailer park, which houses Muslim immigrants and is near the Masjid Bilal Mosque described Jabbar as “simple person” who usually kept to himself.“[He was] pretty quiet … Just walking, [he would say] ‘Hello,’ ‘Hola,’ and that was it,” Francois Venegas said to the New York Post.Jabbar, who was killed in a shootout with police at the scene of the attack, served for 13 years active duty and in the reserves as an IT and human resources specialist in the Army. He left the service in 2020 and had been working in real estate and on staff at Deloitte since 2021. He earned a BBA degree in computer information systems from Georgia State University.“We are shocked to learn of reports … that the individual identified as a suspect had any association with our firm,” Deloitte Managing Director Jonathan Gandal said in a statement. “Like everyone, we are outraged by this shameful and senseless act of violence and are doing all we can to assist authorities in their investigation.”Criminal records in Texas show that Jabbar was charged in 2002 with a misdemeanor for theft and driving without a valid license in 2005, according to NBC News. Civil records indicated that he was married twice and in 2020, his second wife filed for a temporary restraining order, which barred both sides from “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to the other party or to a child of either party” or “threatening the other party or a child of either party with imminent bodily injury.”While the husband of Jabbar’s first ex-wife reportedly said that Jabbar had been acting crazy and they had stopped his children from visiting him, a woman identified only as his sister-in-law said the family was shocked when it learned that Jabbar had carried out the attack.“[It makes] no sense,” she said to NBC News. “He’s the nicest person I’ve ever known.”

FBI Says New Orleans Attacker Acted Alone, No Link Found to Las Vegas Bomber

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