New Orleans attack: FBI sees no firm link to Tesla blast

Investigators initially suspected that the driver had accomplices but dismissed this idea after they combed through his social media and phones, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Cristopher Raia said during a press conference.

"We're being as transparent and we possibly can," Raia said.

"We're confident at this point that there were no accomplices," he said.

Raia said that it was as of yet unclear how the suspect, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, had been radicalized but that it was clear that he was a sympathizer of the "Islamic State" (IS) group.

"He was 100% inspired by [IS]," Raia said.

He said it was not clear why the suspect had picked New Orleans' Bourbon Street as the target of his attack.

New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell said that cleaning of Bourbon Street had been completed by 8 a.m. local time (1400 UTC) on Thursday.

She said that the street would be fully reopened to the public before the "Sugar Bowl" US college football game.

Bourbon Street is a major nightlife hub in the city, which is the most populous in the southern state of Louisiana.

When the attacker rammed a pickup truck into crowds in a popular tourist street in New Orleans, many people were there to celebrate the New Year. Witnesses recall how the attack unfolded: 

FBI Deputy Assistant Director Cristopher Raia said that three phones linked to the suspect had been recovered during investigations into a ramming and shooting attack in New Orleans.

He said that investigators had also discovered two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) placed in coolers. Other reports of devices recovered were "misinformation" or were not "functioning devices," according to the official.

At the same press conference, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said that "over a thousand law enforcement agents" were involved in investigations.

The FBI said that "no definitive link" had been established between the attack in New Orleans and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck at a Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on the same day.

However, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Cristopher Raia noted it was still "very early in an investigation like this."

Speculation about the possible links between the two events has grown after it was discovered that the New Orleans driver was a US Army veteran. Reports indicate the Tesla driver in Las Vegas was an active duty soldier.

The FBI said in a press conference that the driver responsible for the New Orleans ramming did not seem to have any accomplices.

"This was an act of terrorism," FBI Deputy Assistant Director Cristopher Raia said. "It was a premeditated and evil act."

"We do not assess at this point that anyone else … is involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar," he said.

This statement seemingly contradicts comments made by the FBI yesterday, when the investigators indicated that they didn't believe the suspect was "solely responsible" for the attack.

On Thursday, Raia said that Jabbar had posted several videos proclaiming his support for the Islamic State (IS) group.

Raia also said that Jabbar was born in the United States and was a US military veteran. He called for citizens to come forward with information on the suspect.

Shortly after the attack in New Orleans, a man died in a Tesla Cybertruck, packed with fuel and fireworks, in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas.

Both incidents are being investigated as possible terrorist attacks. Radicalization scholar Tahir Abbas puts them into context: 

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Pope Francis have joined the chorus of international leaders offering their condolences to the families of victims and survivors of the attack.

"I am stunned by the cruel murder of people who were happily celebrating the New Year," Steinmeier wrote in a letter to US President Joe Biden. He wanted to "also express my deepest condolences on behalf of my fellow countrymen."

He added: "Such acts must not destroy people's desire for community and togetherness by sowing fear and mistrust."

At the same time, the Vatican issued a statement saying that the pope was "deepy saddened" by the events in New Orleans.

New Orleans' authorities, including Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, have highlighted that the city lacks bollards blocking pedestrian pathways that could have saved lives.

"We had patrol cars out there as a hard target," said Kirkpatrick at a news conference. "This particular terrorist drove around onto the sidewalk and got around the hard target." 

Barriers blocking vehicles from pedestian areas have become increasingly popular in recent years, following a string of deadly attacks wherein assailants rammed cars into crowds of people.

In 2016, similar deadly attacks occured on a pedestrian promenade in the French city of Nice and at a Berlin Christmas market. In late 2024, another car-ramming assault occured in the eastern German city of Magdeburg.

The latter two attacks prompted many German cities to put anti-vehicle barriers around their Christmas markets.
 

Chinese foreign affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning told repoters that Beijing was "shocked" by the "violent attack" in New Orleans.

"China always opposes any violent and terrorist acts targeting civilians," she said, adding: "We mourn the victims, and express our sympathy to their families and those injured."

World leaders such as France's Emmanuel Macron, the UK's Keir Starmer and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier  also expressed their sympathies over the incident.

"We are deeply saddened by this violent attack. Our hearts go out to the victims and injured, their families and the emergency responders," said Jim Farley, the CEO of US auto giant Ford.

A Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck was the vehicle used in the attack.

"Ford is, and will continue to work in full cooperation with authorities," Farley wrote on social media site X.

Authorities have said that the suspect rented the truck via the Turo car-sharing app and drove it from Texas to New Orleans.

The Texas field office for the FBI confirmed that they were executing a search in the suspected perpetrator's hometown of Houston.

"At this time, no arrests have been made, and FBI personnel will be at the scene for several more hours," the bureau wrote on X, adding that specialized units such as SWAT teams and bomb squads were also participating. 

Investigators said they were also conducting simultaneous searches in New Orleans, Louisiana and "other states."

The 42-year-old suspect, Shamsud Din Jabbar, is believed to have been a former IT specialist with the US Army and a convert to Islam. A flag of the "Islamic State"(IS) terror group was found in his car.

The suspect died in a shootout with police after ramming a car into a crowd of New Years' revellers at about 3:15 am local time on January 1. Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured.

es/wd (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)