US agencies probing possible link between New Orleans attack and Las Vegas blast

Investigators in the US are probing if the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans in which 15 people were killed was connected to the detonation of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas later on Wednesday (January 1), US President Joe Biden has said.

Probe into Tesla Cybertruck attack

Biden said that local and federal investigators are trying to find out if the attacker who ploughed a truck through a crowd of revellers in Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, had any connection with the man who was driving the Tesla Cybertruck.

Also read | US: In 3rd New Year attack, 11 injured in New York nightclub shooting

The driver of the Tesla Cybertruck was killed and seven bystanders were injured it exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Officials probing the case have attributed the blast to a combination of fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel joined to a detonation system controlled by the cybertruck’s driver. It is also being probed if the blast was a terror act.

The explosion came hours after 15 people were killed and over 30 injured when a man drove a truck into a crowd of revellers in New Orleans and opened fire at them before being shot down by police. The FBI has identified the suspect as 42-year-old Texas resident Shamsud-Din Jabbar, also an Army veteran.

Also read: New Orleans attack: Death toll rises to 15; ISIS link suspected

Common thread

Law enforcement officials have revealed uncanny similarities between the two attackers – both chose to attack on New Year’s Day, picked soft targets and rented trucks through budget car rental app, Turo.

“I directed my team to make sure every resource is made available to the federal, state and local law enforcement, to complete the investigation in New Orleans quickly, and make sure there’s no remaining threat to the American people,” Biden said in a brief statement to reporters at Camp David.

With authorities also probing a possible connection between the New Orleans attacker with terrorist group ISIS, Biden’s statement is indicative of the heightened vigilance in the US on any ISIS activities.

Also read: New Orleans truck attack: What we know so far

‘Blast could be isolated incident’, say officials

Officials, however, have asserted that there is no reason to believe that the two incidents are connected.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told reporters that while authorities believe the Las Vegas blast is “isolated incident” they have not ruled out its connection with the New Orleans attack.