Evening summary
Thank you for following along with our breaking news blog. Here are some of the developments from the investigations into the deadly attacks in Las Vegas and New Orleans.
US president Joe Biden said that law enforcement agencies were probing any possible links between the attack and the explosion later on Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by US president-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas that killed one person, though he cautioned that none had been found so far.
US president-elect Donald Trump has criticised US authorities and law enforcement agencies in a post today. Although the message does not directly address the New Orleans attack, Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that the “The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job”.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old US citizen from Texas identified by the FBI as the New Orleans attacker, previously pleaded guilty to two charges, including driving under the influence in 2015, reports CNN.
New York has heightened security and increased police presence at locations, including Trump Tower and Times Square, its mayor said.
During a press conference, Joe Biden reiterated FBI officials’ assertion that the suspect identified in the New Orleans attack appeared to have acted alone, and said that there was no obvious connection between the New Orleans attack and the Las Vegas Tesla Cybertruck explosion.
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Authorities in Las Vegas just released new details on the Tesla Cybertruck explosion including the route the suspected bomber took from Colorado to Las Vegas, the materials used to make the bomb and whether there is a connection to the New Orleans attack.
You can read our full story here:
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The Sugar Bowl, the final game of the college football playoff quarter-finals, is under way. But before universities Notre Dame and the University of Georgia took the field there was a moment of silence for the people killed by a truck that rammed its way through a crowd of people on Bourbon Street.
Moment of silence for the French Quarter victims ahead of the Sugar Bowl. pic.twitter.com/XNDgLBPOAB
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) January 2, 2025
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Authorities in Las Vegas just released new details on the Tesla Cybertruck explosion including the route the suspected bomber took from Colorado to Las Vegas, the materials used to make the bomb and whether there is a connection to the New Orleans attack.
The suspected bomber rented the Cybertruck via the service Turo on 28 December in Denver and stopped at chargers in Colorado and others in Arizona and New Mexico before he reached Las Vegas. He made several stops before arriving at the Trump Tower on Wednesday morning. The bomb went off 17 seconds after the suspect parked, Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas metropolitan police department, told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
McMahill added that despite similarities between the Las Vegas and New Orleans attack suspects – such as their military backgrounds, use of Turo to rent their cars and both being deployed in Afghanistan in 2009 – there is no confirmed link between them.
While sifting through debris, law enforcement found fireworks, fuel accelerants and explosive targets that are available for consumer use as well as two legally purchased semiautomatic firearms, Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco field division, said during the press conference.
McMahill added that Elon Musk will be sending people to Las Vegas to try to retrieve any video recordings from inside the Cybertruck.
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Residents lined up for hours in New Orleans to donate blood after the attack in which a terror suspect rammed a truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street.
“This is powerful, to see this response,” Blood Center operations director Susan Neff told Nola.com. The organization had solicited donations amid the crisis and listed numerous facilities for donors to use in Louisiana and Mississippi.
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During a press conference, Joe Biden reiterated FBI officials’ assertion that the suspect identified in the New Orleans attack appeared to have acted alone, and said that there was no obvious connection between the New Orleans attack and the Las Vegas Tesla Cybertruck explosion.
“New Orleans is a city of tremendous spirit, you can’t keep it down,” said Biden.
Recordings by New Orleans attacker express extreme views nearly a year before ambush
Recordings by Shamsud-Din Jabbar contain diatribes against music, drugs, sex and suggested extreme religious beliefs, the Guardian’s Ramon Antonio Vargas reports:
Nearly a year before he allegedly killed 14 people and injured dozens more by driving a pickup truck flying an Islamic State (IS) flag through a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, Shamsud-Din Jabbar expressed his beliefs that music, intoxicants, sex and other pleasures were evils deserving of destruction.
An account on the SoundCloud platform under the name of Jabbar posted three recordings totaling about 20 minutes each containing those and other expressions of extremist religious views.
SoundCloud did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The voice on the recordings match that of Jabbar’s as heard on a video promoting a real estate business he was confirmed to have run before authorities say he aimed a deadly terrorist attack at one of the world’s most famous festive drags, killing or injuring a mix of local area residents as well as foreign visitors.
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The US Army has released statements on medals earned by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Orleans attack, and Matthew Livelsberger, the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas yesterday. Both served in the US Army – Jabbar had been deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 as an administrative clerk, and Livelsberger had served as a Green Beret, deploying to numerous locations around the world.
Livelsberger’s military service, according to an Army statement:
“Livelsberger’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, Bronze Star Medal x 4, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with Valor, Army Commendation Medal x 3, Army Achievement Medal x 2, Army Good Conduct Medal x 5, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star x 3, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon x 3, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal x 2, Special Forces Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge, and Freefall Badge.”
Jabbar’s service, according to an Army statement:
“Jabbar’s awards include the Army Commendation Medal x 3, Army Achievement Medal x 4 , Army Good Conduct Medal x 2, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon x 2, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon, NATO Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation x 2, Parachutist Badge, and the Driver and Mechanic Badge.”
Nevada law enforcement officials said the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck rented the vehicle on December 28 in Denver, Colorado – and tracked its journey from one charging station to the next as the truck made its way to Las Vegas, stopping in Alberquerque, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona along the way. Officials did not elaborate on how they were able to access data from the charging stations, or the extent of the data available on those stops.
New Orleans suspect and Cybertruck driver served at same US military base – report
The suspect in the New Orleans attack and the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas both reportedly spent time at the large military base formerly called Fort Bragg in North Carolina – but they did not appear to have overlapped there.
Matthew Livelsberger, who authorities said incurred a gunshot wound to the head before the Cybertruck he was driving exploded, had been a member of the elite US army special forces. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Orleans attack, was a veteran of the US army.
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Officials told reporters Thursday they have no evidence the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck in front of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas was connected to an outside terror group. The Clark County, Nevada sheriff, Kevin McMahill told media that the driver suffered a gunshot wound to the head before the explosion.
Journalist Will Bredderman noted yesterday that a person using the handle that suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar had used on other accounts at one point maintained an account on a firearms site, ArmsList. On Thursday, the username was no longer searchable on the website. Screenshots of the account, which Bredderman posted on social media Wednesday, showed the user had listed a shotgun and multiple handguns for sale.
Here are some images coming through the newswires from New Orleans where a 42-year old Texas man has been accused of crashing a truck into a crowd of people, killing at least 14 people and leaving dozens more injured:
Louisiana’s Archbishop Shaw High School has identified one of its former students as a victim who was killed during Wednesday’s terror attack.
In a post on Facebook, the high school mourned the loss of 21-year-old alum Hubert Gauthreaux, saying:
“It is with great sorrow that we share that alum Hubert Gauthreaux, Class of 2021, was tragically killed in the senseless act of violence that occurred early this morning in the French Quarter. He was 21 years old.
We are asking the entire Archbishop Shaw family to pray for the repose of Hubert’s soul, his family and friends during this difficult time, and all those affected by this tragedy.”
Former NFL player Antonio Brown has organized a verified GoFundMe for the families of the New Orleans attack victims.
It’s notable given he won a Super Bowl with one of the New Orleans Saints’ archrivals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in 2021 during what was the final season for their longtime legendary quarterback, Drew Brees.
Officials have yet to release a list of names of the victims who were killed in the New Orleans attack that left at least 14 dead after a suspect drove a truck into a Bourbon Street crowd early on New Years day.
But the families of some victims have spoken out, including relatives of Matthew Tenedorio, a Superdome worker who died in the attack. “He was just a joyful person,” Tenedorio’s cousin told Nola.com, describing the family as in shock.
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During the press conference, officials said at least 14 people had been killed in the attack, and 35 were injured. Previous estimates placed the number of dead at 15.
FBI now 'confident' that suspect acted alone in New Orleans
An FBI official addressing media on Thursday said law enforcement is “confident” the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, acted alone – a reversal since yesterday, when officials said they were looking into the possibility that the suspect, Jabbar, had coordinated with others.
“It’s really premature and you’re putting us on some speculative grounds,” Louisiana governor Jeff Landry told reporters who asked questions about the investigation. “I personally – I don’t like to give specifics because I don’t like to tell the enemy what we’ve got, but I can tell you we’re in better shape than we were before.”
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The suspect “was 100% inspired by ISIS”, said FBI counter-terrorism official Christopher Raia, who added that the agency was investigating the suspect’s apparent interest in the Islamic State.
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New Orleans’ mayor, LaToya Cantrell, told reporters that the FBI had cleared Bourbon Street, and said that the victims of the attack had been identified and their families notified. She said that Bourbon Street had been cleaned early Thursday morning. “The confidence is there to reopen Bourbon Street” prior to the Sugar Bowl, an annual college football game that will be held in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon, Cantrell said.
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FBI says 'no definitive link' between New Orleans attack and Las Vegas incident
“At this point there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas,” said Raia, adding that the investigation was in its earliest stages.
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During the press conference, Raia said the suspect declared his affiliation with the Islamic State on social media. He said that surveillance footage showed the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, placing two explosive devices at the scene. Raia confirmed that Jabbar had served in the US military and urged “anyone who was in the French Quarter on New Year’s Eve or early on New Year’s Day” to come forward as a witness.
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FBI official says suspect expressed support for Islamic State before 'premeditated' attack
“This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act,” Christopher Raia, an FBI official, told reporters during a press conference this morning. Raia said that video footage recorded by the suspect suggested the suspect had expressed support forthe Islamic State and drove from Texas to Louisiana on 31 December to carry out an attack on Bourbon Street.
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The Associated Press reports that law enforcement officials have identified the deceased driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas yesterday as Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty US army member, who spent time at the North Carolina base formerly known as Fort Bragg. The base is home to army special forces command.
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Authorities do not believe other suspects in vicinity of New Orleans attack – report
The FBI and New Orleans law enforcement believe there were no additional suspects in the vicinity of the Bourbon Street attack, although officials continue to explore whether the suspect was in contact with other individuals remotely, ABC reports. Surveillance footage reportedly suggests the explosive devices found in the area were planted by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect accused of driving his car into a crowd of New Years revelers and killing 15 people.
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Citing US officials, CNN reports that the person “connected to the rental” of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in front of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas “is is an active-duty Special Forces operations sergeant, who was on leave from Germany where he was serving with 10th SFG.”
On his social media platform, Truth Social, Donald Trump continued to attempt to draw a connection between immigration and the New Orleans attack, despite the fact that the man identified as a suspect in the attack was a US citizen from Texas.
“With the Biden ‘Open Border’s Policy’ I said, many times during Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe. That time has come, only worse than ever imagined,” Trump wrote.
FBI looking into potential connection between New Orleans attack and Las Vegas incident
The FBI is reportedly looking into whether the New Orleans attack is connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas yesterday. Joe Biden indicated yesterday that officials were looking into a connection. Reuters reports:
Gasoline canisters and large firework mortars were packed into the Cybertruck that burst into flames shortly after a driver intentionally drove a pickup truck into crowds celebrating the new year in the French Quarter of New Orleans, according to officials.
The sole occupant of the truck was found dead inside and seven people sustained minor injuries, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement. The FBI has identified the person driving the vehicle but was not ready to release that information, FBI special agent in charge Jeremy Schwartz told reporters on Wednesday.
The FBI did not return a request for more information on Thursday. The incident occurred just hours after a man drove a truck into crowds of New Year’s Day revelers in New Orleans, killing 15.
Officials have not established a link between the events.
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The suspect in the New Orleans attack that has left at least fifteen people dead was a veteran of the US army and had an Islamic State flag on the car that he used to ram into a crowd on Bourbon Street early on New Year’s Day.
According to data collected by the University of Maryland, people with military backgrounds rarely – but persistently – adopt extremist ideologies. An October report by the Associated Press analyzing this data found that in about 80% of instances of servicemembers or veterans allegedly committing extremist crimes, they were affiliated with white supremacy, far-right and anti-government ideologies. Far-left, Jihadist and other ideologies made up the rest.
Veterans were more likely than active duty servicemembers to adopt extremist affiliations, and while only a tiny share of veterans appear to adopt such beliefs, the rate of radicalization among people with a military background has outpaced the general population, the report found.
Early in the Biden administration, the Pentagon launched an effort to counter extremism in the military, but the working group ceased activity amid opposition to the program by Republican lawmakers.
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CNN has reported that, according to unnamed officials briefed on the investigation, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the New Orleans attack, recorded videos describing plans to kill his family and discussing Islamic state (ISIS). CNN reports that the videos, which the outlet did not directly view, may have been recorded while Jabbar drove from Texas to Louisiana and that in the videos Jabbar said he had dreams that inspired him to join ISIS.
Pope Francis 'deeply saddened' by New Orleans attack
Pope Francis on Thursday expressed condolences to the archbishop of New Orleans over the attack in the US city that killed at least 15 people, in a note sent by the Vatican, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“His holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the attack,” wrote the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to Archbishop Gregory Aymond, adding that the pope “prays for the healing and consolation of the injured and bereaved”.
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Sugar Bowl to be played today in New Orleans
The College Football Playoff quarter-final at the Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame that had been postponed due to the New Orleans New Year’s Day attack, is due to be played at 3pm local time (9pm GMT) today.
The game, originally scheduled for Wednesday night at the 70,000-seat Superdome, was pushed back 24 hours to Thursday night.
The Superdome was on lockdown for security sweeps on Wednesday morning, when people with offices in the Superdome – including officials with the Sugar Bowl and Sun Belt Conference – were told not to come into work until further notice.
Some credentialed Superdome employees were permitted into offices by Wednesday afternoon.
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Heightened security and police presence at Trump Tower and Times Square, NY mayor says
New York has heightened security and increased police presence at locations, including Trump Tower and Times Square, its mayor said.
New York mayor, Eric Adams, posted the news on X this morning. He wrote:
After the attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas,@NYPDPC and I have been in constant communication. While there are no immediate threats to our city at this time, out of an abundance of caution, we have heightened security and have increased NYPD presence at relevant locations, including at Trump Tower and in Times Square.”
Reuters news agency has shared another image of the New Orleans attack suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
The image was reportedly found on a US military Facebook. Reuters says the photograph, which shows a man matching images of Jabbar released by the FBI, was posted on the page of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
New Orleans truck attack: what happened?
The attacker, identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar of Houston, Texas, managed to drive a rented white pickup truck between the 100 and 400 blocks of Bourbon Street in the lower part of the French Quarter, which was packed with people celebrating New Year’s Eve.
He was also firing a rifle from the truck while wearing body armor as well as a helmet, according to a law enforcement bulletin, and was flying the flag of the Islamic state (Isis) group mounted on a pipe erected in the bed of the vehicle. He exchanged gun fire with several police officers – wounding two of them – and was shot dead by the officers.
About 30 minutes after Jabbar was shot dead, investigators found a pipe bomb with nails and suspected C4 explosives inside an ice chest left near police patrol cars at the corner of Bourbon and Orleans streets, roughly three blocks from where the attack ended.
The bulletin said surveillance camera footage showed three men and a woman planted that device. But CNN later reported that investigators have since ruled out those people as having anything to do with planting the devices.
A second such device was found about a block away from where the first one had been found. Investigators spotted a third such possible device in a purple suitcase near the corner of North Rampart Street and Esplanade Avenue, toward the upper edge of the French Quarter.
Two of those devices had been confirmed as pipe bombs concealed within coolers and were wired for remote detonation, the bulletin said. Investigators discovered a corresponding remote in Jabbar’s truck, which also had mason jars containing a clear liquid consistent with explosives in his truck.
Officers determined a fourth possible device was not explosive.
Investigators learned Jabbar was staying at a short-term rental in New Orleans’ St Roch neighbourhood, about two miles from the French Quarter. They arrived to find the place had been intentionally set on fire, and – after firefighters brought the blaze under control – discovered bomb-making materials in the home.
The Houston news station KPRC2 reported capturing drone video showing a man at a home connected to Jabbar there surrendering to authorities. Earlier, the FBI said agents in Houston were “conducting law enforcement activity” at an area in the north part of the city in connection with the attack in New Orleans.
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My colleague, Oliver Laughland, has been reporting from New Orleans and has written this piece on residents and tourists recalling scrambling for cover as unimaginable scenes unfolded in the French Quarter yesterday:
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A University of Alabama student, Kareem Badawi, was among the 15 people killed in the New Orleans truck attack on New Year’s Day, the university’s president confirmed.
In a message on the university website posted yesterday, Stuart R. Bell wrote:
I learned today that Kareem Badawi, one of our students at the University of Alabama, was killed in the terrorist attack in New Orleans. I grieve alongside family and friends of Kareem in their heartbreaking loss.
Bell added that the univeristy’s staff had been “actively engaged in supportive outreach”. He signed off:
Please take a moment to pray for those impacted by this tragedy.”
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Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old US citizen from Texas identified by the FBI as the New Orleans attacker, previously pleaded guilty to two charges, including driving under the influence in 2015, reports CNN.
According to documents from a US district court in North Carolina obtained by CNN, Jabbar had driven under the influence of an impairing substance in November 2014 and recorded a blood alcohol level over the legal limit. CNN reports that documents also showed Jabbar was driving with “an open container of alcoholic beverage after he consumed alcohol”.
CNN reports that Jabbar was charged with a DWI (driving while intoxicated) level 5– the least severe level of the offense in North Carolina – and had his driving licence suspended, was placed on probation for 12 months, fined $200 and complied with 24 hours of community service. He was also ordered to have a substance abuse assessment and treatment, it reports.
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At least 15 people have been killed and 30 injured after 42-year-old US citizen Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a Ford pickup into a crowd of revelers on New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day.
Witness Zion Parsons watched as the vehicle plowed into a close friend who died at the scene. “A truck hit the corner and comes barreling through throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air,” he said.
The New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans targeted the French Quarter, one of the US city’s most famous districts. The area is visited by millions each year as a hub for music, culture and raucous nightlife.
Here is an explainer on what the New Orleans’ French Quarter is:
Local authorities say they believe 'multiple people are involved' in attack
Local authorities believe that Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who died at the scene, may not have been alone in orchestrating the early morning assault in New Orleans, reports the PA news agency.
Louisiana attorney general, Liz Murrill, told NBC News that she can say “with some certainty that there are multiple people who are involved”.
As per CNN, Murrill also told the press that the collection of improvised explosive devices, which were discovered shortly after the Bourbon Street attacker was apprehended, appear to have been made in a New Orleans home.
A house fire occurred on Wednesday morning “that was connected to this event where we believe the IEDs were being made,” Murrill said. The premises, a short-term Airbnb rental, was likely leased by those involved, reports the PA news agency.
Authorities had already confirmed that it is suspected the New Orleans attacker may not be “solely responsible” for the attack, according to CNN.
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UK prime minister joins other world leaders in condemning 'shockingly violent' attack in New Orleans
UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, has joined other world leaders in condemning the “shockingly violent” attack in New Orleans after US authorities said 15 people were killed and dozens more injured.
Starmer said his thoughts with were with the victims, their loved ones and the wider US after a vehicle drove into a crowd in the city in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
According to the PA news agency, the UK prime minister said:
The shockingly violent attack in New Orleans is horrific. My thoughts are with the victims, their families, the emergency responders and the people of the United States at this tragic time.”
Foreign secretary, David Lammy, said consular officials in the US were on hand to help any British nationals affected. “Our hearts go out to the people of New Orleans and to all those affected by this horrific attack,” he said.
He added:
The FBI are now investigating this as a terrorist incident – this is a fast-moving situation, and we continue to wait on further information.”
German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, described the attack as “senseless hatred” while French president, Emmanuel Macron, said:
New Orleans, so dear to the hearts of the French, has been struck by terrorism.”
Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, said he was “deeply saddened” by the “horrific attack” and Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said the country stood “in solidarity with the families of the victims and with the people of the United States”.
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Donald Trump criticises US authorities and law enforcement agencies
US president-elect Donald Trump has criticised US authorities and law enforcement agencies in a post today.
Although the message does not directly address the New Orleans attack, Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that the “The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job”.
Trump criticised what he described as “weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership” in reference to “open borders” and accused authorities of spending time attacking him rather than “focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside”.
He wrote:
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!”
China said on Thursday it was “shocked” by the attack in the southern US city of New Orleans that killed at least 15 people and injured dozens.
“We mourn the victims, and express our sympathy to their families and those injured,” foreign affairs spokesperson, Mao Ning, told a regular press conference.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Mao told journalists:
We are shocked by this violent attack … China always opposes any violent and terrorist acts targeting civilians.”
She added that Beijing had not received any reports of Chinese casualties from the country’s embassy in the US.
Law enforcement agencies probing possible links between attack and Las Vegas explosion
US president Joe Biden said that law enforcement agencies were probing any possible links between the attack and the explosion later on Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by US president-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas that killed one person, though he cautioned that none had been found so far.
Biden said that “thus far, there’s nothing” linking the New Orleans attack with the Las Vegas explosion, which police described as an “isolated” incident.
The vehicles in the two attacks were both rented through the popular car-sharing app Turo. The sheriff in Las Vegas said that was a “coincidence … that we have to continue to look in to.”
A spokesperson for the app, used by millions of people in the US, said they were working with law enforcement, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“We do not believe that either renter … had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat,” the spokesperson told AFP.
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Police said the attack began about 3.15am (09.15am GMT) near Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter, packed with people celebrating the start of 2025.
The suspect drove a white Ford F-150 electric pickup into a group of pedestrians, then exited and was killed in a shootout with police – two of whom were injured. Two homemade bombs were found and neutralised, the FBI said.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” Police Supt Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters. Driving at “very high speed” and in a “very intentional” manner, “he was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The Pentagon said the attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, had served in the US army as a human resources specialist and an IT specialist from 2007 to 2015, and then in the army reserve until 2020. He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 until January 2010, an army spokesperson said.
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FBI probes 'terrorist' links in New Orleans truck-ramming that killed 14
A US army veteran with an Islamic State (IS) flag and “hellbent” on carnage steered a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year revelers in New Orleans on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, officials said.
The FBI identified the attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas. He appeared to have been a real estate agent working in Houston and had served as an IT specialist in the military, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Officials said they were searching for accomplices but gave few details.
Police Supt Anne Kirkpatrick described Jabbar as a “terrorist,” and the FBI said “an Isis flag was located in the vehicle,” using another name for the IS jihadist group.
US president Joe Biden, describing the attack as “despicable,” said Jabbar had posted videos online hours before “indicating that he was inspired by Isis.”
Biden also said that law enforcement agencies were probing any possible links between the attack and the explosion later on Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by US president-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas that killed one person, though he cautioned that none had been found so far.
Officials said a manhunt was under way, with FBI agent Alethea Duncan warning that authorities “do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible.”
Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, said: “We’re hunting some bad people down.”
The FBI said it was conducting search warrants in New Orleans “and other states.” Earlier, the bureau’s field office in Houston said it was conducting activity “related” to the New Orleans attack.
An FBI spokesperson told AFP that 15 people had been killed in the attack, citing the New Orleans coroner’s office.
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