A man drove a pickup truck into a dense crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early Wednesday morning, and a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas later in the day.
The suspect in the New Orleans attack is 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, according to the FBI. He allegedly rammed his vehicle into the crowd around 3:15 a.m., killing 15 and injuring dozens.
“After hitting the crowd, he exited the vehicle and fired upon local law enforcement,” the FBI said in a statement. “Law enforcement returned fire, and the subject was pronounced deceased at the scene. Two law enforcement officers were injured and transported to a local hospital.” The FBI said that Jabbar is a U.S. citizen from Texas. Jabbar was a real estate agent.
Jabbar, a U.S. Army veteran, had an ISIS flag on the back of his rented Ford F-150 when he allegedly plowed into the crowd. The FBI is “working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.” Assistant Special Agent for the FBI in New Orleans Alethea Duncan confirmed in a news conference that two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had been found and disposed of, according to The New York Times.
The Associated Press reported that it obtained a Louisiana State Police bulletin circulated among law enforcement with information that surveillance footage captured three men and a woman placing one of multiple explosive devices.
In Las Vegas, a Tesla truck exploded in front of a Trump hotel. Footage of the explosion can be viewed here.
One person was killed and at least seven were injured, authorities said, and officials were looking into possible connections to the incident in New Orleans. “Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said during a news conference that the authorities believe this to be an isolated incident, but have not yet ruled out a connection,” according to reporting from The New York Times.
