Authorities in the United States took stock Thursday of the attack in New Orleans and the explosion in Las Vegas. Here are the latest elements of the investigation revealed.
What do we know about the vehicle-ramming attack in New Orleans?
Around 3:15 a.m. on the morning of the 1stis January, in the midst of New Year’s celebrations, a man driving a pick-up F-150 rammed into crowds gathered on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the southern United States.
The attack left 14 dead and at least 35 injured.
The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, is a 42-year-old man born in Texas who served in the United States army from 2007 to 2015. This father of three was deployed in Afghanistan for 11 months.
After mowing down dozens of people on three blocks of Bourbon Street, the man was shot dead by police. Two officers were injured in the exchange of gunfire.
At the time of the attack, the French Quarter’s protective bollards were being repaired, in preparation for the Super Bowl, which will be held in New Orleans next month. Police cars had been placed to block the road. The suspect went around them.
Why was the attack called an “act of terrorism” by the FBI?
In the hours preceding the tragedy, the suspect had published five videos on Facebook in which he claimed to belong to the armed group Islamic State (Daesh). “He joined Daesh before this summer,” said Christopher Raia, of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, at a press briefing on Thursday.
In one of the videos, the suspect explains that he thought about attacking his family members and friends. He would have changed his plans to ensure that his gesture unambiguously demonstrated that it was “a war between the faithful and the infidels,” the senior FBI officer reported.
A Daesh flag was also found in the ram vehicle. “This is an act of terrorism. It was a premeditated and diabolical act,” argued Mr. Raia.
On Wednesday, Anne Kirkpatrick, of the New Orleans police, stressed that the suspect had acted to “crush as many people as he could”. “He was fiercely determined to cause carnage,” she added.
Did the perpetrator of the New Orleans attack have accomplices?
Contrary to what was announced on 1is January, the FBI now believes the suspect acted alone. “We do not believe, at this point, that any other individuals were involved in this attack,” Christopher Raia of the FBI said Thursday.
After the attack, two improvised explosive devices placed in coolers were located and then defused in the French Quarter.
Surveillance videos viewed by investigators led them to believe that accomplices had planted these homemade bombs. “It ended up being just passers-by who looked into the coolers. We didn’t know that at first,” Mr Raia said.
These devices, which were functional, were left by the suspect around 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., shortly before the attack.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Thursday that the cleanup operation was underway. The Sugar Bowl – an iconic college football game – which was to be held on 1is January, not far from the scene of the attack, was postponed until Thursday afternoon. “Bourbon Street will be ready for normal operation before game time,” she assured.
Is there a link between the attack in New Orleans and the explosion of Tesla’s Cybertruck in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas?
Around 8:40 a.m. on the 1stis January, a Tesla Cybertruck (owned by Elon Musk) exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. The FBI revealed Thursday that the occupant of the car, Matthew Livelsberger, 37, was shot in the head before the vehicle exploded.
Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said a gun was found at the deceased’s feet, suggesting a suicide. Cans of fuel and fireworks were in the trunk of the truck. The explosion injured seven people. The authorities still do not know the victim’s motivations.
In a written statement, the US military revealed that Matthew Livelsberger was part of the anti-terrorist special forces. He had served in the army since 2006 and had been deployed to Afghanistan, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo among others. He was on extended leave at the time of the tragedy.
Coincidence or not, the vehicles involved in the events that occurred just hours apart in New Orleans and Las Vegas were both rented through the ride-sharing app Turo.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said investigators were trying to determine whether there is a “connection” between these two tragedies. On Thursday, the FBI’s Christopher Raia suggested there was probably no connection between the two events. “We are following all potential leads and excluding nothing,” he said. However, at this point, there is no compelling link between the attack here in New Orleans and the attack in Las Vegas. »
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