New Orleans suspect and Cybertruck driver served at same US military base – report The suspect in the New Orleans attack and the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas both reportedly spent time at the large military base formerly called Fort Bragg in North Carolina – but they did not appear to have overlapped there.
Matthew Livelsberger, who authorities said incurred a gunshot wound to the head before the Cybertruck he was driving exploded, had been a member of the elite US army special forces. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Orleans attack, was a veteran of the US army.
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Evening summary Thank you for following along with our breaking news blog. Here are some of the developments from the investigations into the deadly attacks in Las Vegas and New Orleans.
US president Joe Biden said that law enforcement agencies were probing any possible links between the attack and the explosion later on Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by US president-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas that killed one person, though he cautioned that none had been found so far.
US president-elect Donald Trump has criticised US authorities and law enforcement agencies in a post today. Although the message does not directly address the New Orleans attack, Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that the “The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job”.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old US citizen from Texas identified by the FBI as the New Orleans attacker, previously pleaded guilty to two charges, including driving under the influence in 2015, reports CNN.
New York has heightened security and increased police presence at locations, including Trump Tower and Times Square, its mayor said.
During a press conference, Joe Biden reiterated FBI officials’ assertion that the suspect identified in the New Orleans attack appeared to have acted alone, and said that there was no obvious connection between the New Orleans attack and the Las Vegas Tesla Cybertruck explosion.
Authorities in Las Vegas just released new details on the Tesla Cybertruck explosion including the route the suspected bomber took from Colorado to Las Vegas, the materials used to make the bomb and whether there is a connection to the New Orleans attack.
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The Sugar Bowl, the final game of the college football playoff quarter-finals, is under way. But before universities Notre Dame and the University of Georgia took the field there was a moment of silence for the people killed by a truck that rammed its way through a crowd of people on Bourbon Street.
Authorities in Las Vegas just released new details on the Tesla Cybertruck explosion including the route the suspected bomber took from Colorado to Las Vegas, the materials used to make the bomb and whether there is a connection to the New Orleans attack.
The suspected bomber rented the Cybertruck via the service Turo on 28 December in Denver and stopped at chargers in Colorado and others in Arizona and New Mexico before he reached Las Vegas. He made several stops before arriving at the Trump Tower on Wednesday morning. The bomb went off 17 seconds after the suspect parked, Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas metropolitan police department, told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
McMahill added that despite similarities between the Las Vegas and New Orleans attack suspects – such as their military backgrounds, use of Turo to rent their cars and both being deployed in Afghanistan in 2009 – there is no confirmed link between them.
While sifting through debris, law enforcement found fireworks, fuel accelerants and explosive targets that are available for consumer use as well as two legally purchased semiautomatic firearms, Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco field division, said during the press conference.
McMahill added that Elon Musk will be sending people to Las Vegas to try to retrieve any video recordings from inside the Cybertruck.
Residents lined up for hours in New Orleans to donate blood after the attack in which a terror suspect rammed a truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street.
“This is powerful, to see this response,” Blood Center operations director Susan Neff told Nola.com. The organization had solicited donations amid the crisis and listed numerous facilities for donors to use in Louisiana and Mississippi.
During a press conference, Joe Biden reiterated FBI officials’ assertion that the suspect identified in the New Orleans attack appeared to have acted alone, and said that there was no obvious connection between the New Orleans attack and the Las Vegas Tesla Cybertruck explosion.
“New Orleans is a city of tremendous spirit, you can’t keep it down,” said Biden.
Recordings by New Orleans attacker express extreme views nearly a year before ambush Recordings by Shamsud-Din Jabbar contain diatribes against music, drugs, sex and suggested extreme religious beliefs, the Guardian’s Ramon Antonio Vargas reports:
Nearly a year before he allegedly killed 14 people and injured dozens more by driving a pickup truck flying an Islamic State (IS) flag through a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, Shamsud-Din Jabbar expressed his beliefs that music, intoxicants, sex and other pleasures were evils deserving of destruction.
An account on the SoundCloud platform under the name of Jabbar posted three recordings totaling about 20 minutes each containing those and other expressions of extremist religious views.
SoundCloud did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The voice on the recordings match that of Jabbar’s as heard on a video promoting a real estate business he was confirmed to have run before authorities say he aimed a deadly terrorist attack at one of the world’s most famous festive drags, killing or injuring a mix of local area residents as well as foreign visitors.
The US Army has released statements on medals earned by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Orleans attack, and Matthew Livelsberger, the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas yesterday. Both served in the US Army – Jabbar had been deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 as an administrative clerk, and Livelsberger had served as a Green Beret, deploying to numerous locations around the world.
Livelsberger’s military service, according to an Army statement:
“Livelsberger’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, Bronze Star Medal x 4, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with Valor, Army Commendation Medal x 3, Army Achievement Medal x 2, Army Good Conduct Medal x 5, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star x 3, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon x 3, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal x 2, Special Forces Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge, and Freefall Badge.”
Jabbar’s service, according to an Army statement:
“Jabbar’s awards include the Army Commendation Medal x 3, Army Achievement Medal x 4 , Army Good Conduct Medal x 2, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon x 2, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon, NATO Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation x 2, Parachutist Badge, and the Driver and Mechanic Badge.”
Nevada law enforcement officials said the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck rented the vehicle on December 28 in Denver, Colorado – and tracked its journey from one charging station to the next as the truck made its way to Las Vegas, stopping in Alberquerque, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona along the way. Officials did not elaborate on how they were able to access data from the charging stations, or the extent of the data available on those stops.
Las Vegas police show route they think Cybertruck took to city before Trump hotel explosion – video New Orleans suspect and Cybertruck driver served at same US military base – report The suspect in the New Orleans attack and the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas both reportedly spent time at the large military base formerly called Fort Bragg in North Carolina – but they did not appear to have overlapped there.
Matthew Livelsberger, who authorities said incurred a gunshot wound to the head before the Cybertruck he was driving exploded, had been a member of the elite US army special forces. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Orleans attack, was a veteran of the US army.
Officials told reporters Thursday they have no evidence the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck in front of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas was connected to an outside terror group. The Clark County, Nevada sheriff, Kevin McMahill told media that the driver suffered a gunshot wound to the head before the explosion.
Journalist Will Bredderman noted yesterday that a person using the handle that suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar had used on other accounts at one point maintained an account on a firearms site, ArmsList. On Thursday, the username was no longer searchable on the website. Screenshots of the account, which Bredderman posted on social media Wednesday, showed the user had listed a shotgun and multiple handguns for sale.
Here are some images coming through the newswires from New Orleans where a 42-year old Texas man has been accused of crashing a truck into a crowd of people, killing at least 14 people and leaving dozens more injured:
Jefferson Parish SWAT Unit walk as they patrol, on the day of 2025 Sugar Bowl, after people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year’s celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., January 2, 2025. Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters Barriers are set up on at Orleans and Bourbon streets on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in New Orleans. Photograph: George Walker IV/AP A man donates blood at a mobile blood center, after people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year’s celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., January 2, 2025. Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters Security and bomb sniffing dogs check backpacks before entering the Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. Photograph: Butch Dill/AP The Orleans Parish Coroner turns onto Bourbon Street from Iberville Street where a man ramped a truck into a crowd at the edge of the French Quarter in the early morning hours of Wednesday, January 1, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photograph: Bonnie Cash/UPI/REX/Shutterstock Louisiana’s Archbishop Shaw High School has identified one of its former students as a victim who was killed during Wednesday’s terror attack.
In a post on Facebook, the high school mourned the loss of 21-year-old alum Hubert Gauthreaux, saying:
“It is with great sorrow that we share that alum Hubert Gauthreaux, Class of 2021, was tragically killed in the senseless act of violence that occurred early this morning in the French Quarter. He was 21 years old.
We are asking the entire Archbishop Shaw family to pray for the repose of Hubert’s soul, his family and friends during this difficult time, and all those affected by this tragedy.”
Ramon Antonio Vargas
Former NFL player Antonio Brown has organized a verified GoFundMe for the families of the New Orleans attack victims.
It’s notable given he won a Super Bowl with one of the New Orleans Saints’ archrivals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in 2021 during what was the final season for their longtime legendary quarterback, Drew Brees.
Officials have yet to release a list of names of the victims who were killed in the New Orleans attack that left at least 14 dead after a suspect drove a truck into a Bourbon Street crowd early on New Years day.
But the families of some victims have spoken out, including relatives of Matthew Tenedorio, a Superdome worker who died in the attack. “He was just a joyful person,” Tenedorio’s cousin told Nola.com, describing the family as in shock.
During the press conference, officials said at least 14 people had been killed in the attack, and 35 were injured. Previous estimates placed the number of dead at 15.