Attack in New Orleans, explosion of a Cybertruck in front of a Trump hotel… America in shock

The Cybertruck had been parked for just 20 seconds before it exploded. Explosions of “large fireworks mortars” who were in the trunk with cans of gasoline, authorities said. After the tragedy, a man was found dead in the car and seven people were slightly injured. The explosion of a car, designed by Tesla, Elon Musk’s company, in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, three weeks before the inauguration of the new president, raises questions.

Especially since this tragedy occurred a few hours after a former American soldier, identified by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, is suspected of having driven into the crowd at the wheel of his vehicle in New Orleans. This attack, treated as a “act of terrorism”left at least 15 dead and around thirty injured. During a short speech Wednesday evening, Joe Biden confirmed that authorities were investigating whether there was “some possible connection” between these two events, the American president adding that nothing indicated “so far”. “We believe this is an isolated event”declared, for his part, Jeremy Schwartz, FBI agent. For each of these two tragedies, the vehicles in question had been rented through the carpooling application Turo.

The investigation advances in New Orleans

In New Orleans, investigators continue to search for possible accomplices of Shamsud-Din Jabbar. Searches are underway in a city under tension, note our special correspondents. “Look, here we are a few dozen meters from the street where the attacker drove into the crowd. And 24 hours later, the access is completely blocked. You see behind me, there are dozens of police vehicles The members of the security forces we spoke to told us that they were going to take turns all night and that the area would remain cordoned off until further notice.explains our TF1/LCI correspondent Justine Jankowski.

Several explosive devices were found in the neighborhood and an Islamic State flag in the attacker’s white pickup. Fifteen people were killed by the suspect and around thirty injured, including two police officers.

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The 42-year-old suspect in the attack was identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a “US national from Texas” and former Army soldier, by the federal police and the FBI. We were able to find him in a promotional video, he had become a property manager. He had converted to Islam and been radicalized, according to relatives. On social networks, he claimed his desire to kill and his fascination with the Islamic State, shortly before this attack.