Authorities are investigating potential connections between Wednesday’s truck attack in New Orleans and a cybertruck bombing at Trump Hotel in Las Vegas this week.
The FBI has identified Shamsud-Din Jabbar as the suspect who allegedly drove a truck into a New Orleans crowd before being killed in a shootout with police on Wednesday. Authorities are investigating a potential military connection between Jabbar and the Las Vegas suspect, who police have not identified.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill had told Fox News that there is evidence that Jabbar worked alongside accomplices to coordinate the attack. The FBI told Fox News later Thursday that they no longer believe other suspects were involved in the attack, which killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens of others.
Jabbar had posted videos to social media prior to his attack expressing allegiance to the Islamic State. The FBI’s investigation has now spread across multiple states, though the number of potential accomplices remains unknown.
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“FBI special agents and our law enforcement partners are currently conducting a number of court-authorized search warrants in New Orleans and other states,” the bureau said in a statement. “The FBI’s Evidence Response Team continues to process the crime scene to meticulously gather all relevant evidence.”
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The FBI initially said it did not believe the driver acted alone, though it has now revised that determination. Investigators found guns and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device inside Jabbar’s truck along with other devices elsewhere in the French Quarter.
New Orleans hospitals treated a total of 37 victims who were injured in Wednesday’s attack. LCMC Health has not stated how many of those injured have since been discharged, nor has it clarified the condition of those still hospitalized.
Jabbar, a U.S. native born in Texas, had previously served in the U.S. military. Authorities are still investigating how and when he became radicalized.
Jabbar served in the Army as a Human Resource Specialist and Information Technology (IT) Specialist from March 2007 until January 2015.
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Following active duty, he served in the Army Reserves as an IT Specialist from January 2015 until July 2020.
During his tenure, he deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.
After leaving the military, Jabbar obtained a job at Deloitte, earning a salary of roughly $120,000 per year. He ran into financial struggles following two divorces, however.
Authorities searched an AirBnB in New Orleans believed to be connected to Jabbar. They also executed a search warrant at his main residence in Houston, Texas.
Relatives of Jabbar said he had been acting erratically in recent months. Dwayne Marsh, the husband of Jabbar’s ex-wife, says they stopped allowing his wife’s shared daughters to spend time with Jabbar, according to the New York Times.
The attack led authorities to postpone the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday night. The sporting event is now scheduled to take place on Thursday night, though some officials have called for the event to be delayed further.
Meanwhile, President-elect Trump called on the CIA to get involved in the investigation, blasting Jabbar as “violent scum” and the current administration as “incompetent and corrupt.”
His statement came after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. It remains unclear whether the bombing, which killed one person who was inside the vehicle , is linked to the New Orleans attack. Authorities are investigating a possible military connection between Jabbar and the suspect in the Vegas case, who police have declined to identify.
The FBI is conducting sweeps of potential residences in Las Vegas as well as Denver, Colorado in relation to the Trump Hotel bombing.
“Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World! This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership. The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job. They are incompetent and corrupt, having spent all of their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself,” Trump wrote on social media.
“Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen to our Country. The CIA must get involved, NOW, before it is too late. The USA is breaking down – A violent erosion of Safety, National Security, and Democracy is taking place all across our Nation. Only strength and powerful leadership will stop it. See you on January 20th. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added.
