US Car Rampage Suspect Sent Videos About Divorce: Planned to Kill Family

A car "deliberately" plowed through a crowd in New Orleans, Louisiana, early on Jan. 1. The police confirmed that the suspect was Shamshud Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old American citizen from Texas. A federal law enforcement official said the suspect in the car rampage died after an exchange of fire with the police.

On Jan. 1, US President Joe Biden issues a statement on the terror attack in New Orleans

US President Joe Biden said the attacker had posted videos on social media shortly before the New Orleans attack that demonstrated "a desire to kill."

Biden said he had been briefed by federal investigators on the social media posts, and that the FBI told him the driver had posted videos on social media "indicating that he was inspired by ISIS" (the terrorist group Islamic State) just hours before his attack.

A US military spokesman told Fox News that Jabbar, the suspect in the attack, enlisted in the Navy in August 2004, but was honorably discharged "under a delayed entry program" a month before he was to report for active service. He served in the US Army from 2007 to 2020.

"Jabbar served as a Personnel Specialist and Information Technology Specialist in the Regular Army from March 2007 to January 2015 before serving as an IT Specialist in the Army Reserve from January 2015 to July 2020," the spokesman said, "He was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010. He completed his service with the rank of Staff Sergeant."

The suspect also received the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, and Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal.

Also on Jan. 1, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded and burst into flames in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Multiple law enforcement sources said that the truck that exploded in Las Vegas was rented on an app called Turo, the same app from which the pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack was rented.

Two deadly US openings to the year, suspects rented cars from the same platform

On the evening of Jan. 1, a Tesla electric car exploded in the parking lot of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, injuring seven people and killing one.

The police are investigating the explosion in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas as a potential criminal case or terrorist attack.

The scene was cordoned off

Law enforcement officials familiar with the matter said the explosive device consisted of something that was "similar to a smoke grenade or fireworks bomb." Investigators are urgently working to determine the suspect's motive and background. The police urged the public to be vigilant and stay away from the site.

The hotel, being associated with US President-elect Donald Trump, has been a target of concern for years. Eric Trump, a vice president of The Trump Organization, responded to the attack, saying the hotel would do everything it could to ensure the safety of guests and employees, and thanked the local police and firefighters for their quick response. The case is under investigation.

Early in the morning of the same day, a truck plowed into a crowd in New Orleans, Louisiana, killing at least 15 people.

Investigators found an explosive device in the vehicle used in the attack. The suspect was identified as 42-year-old Shamshudin Jabbar, a man from Texas and a former US Army soldier. The pickup truck he drove was rented through a car-sharing mobile app, with Texas license plates. After plowing through celebrants, he exchanged gunfire with police who responded to the scene and was killed. Two officers were wounded in the exchange, but their injuries were not life threatening. The FBI said it did not believe the gunman was working alone.

Law enforcement officials said the car contained not only a ISIS flag, but also guns and at least two explosive devices that could be detonated by remote control, along with the corresponding cellphones. In addition, other potential explosive devices were found in New Orleans' French Quarter, a popular tourist destination where the rampage occurred. The New Orleans attack is being investigated as a terror case.

So far, ISIS or any other extremist groups have not claimed responsibility for the car rampage.

Same app rented both cars, Musk responds

The Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas and the car used in the attack in New Orleans were both rented through an app called Turo. Musk said the two incidents appeared to be connected and "seem like possible terrorist acts."

Musk said on social media that Tesla had confirmed that the explosion of a Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas was caused by large fireworks or a bomb placed under the vehicle and had nothing to do with the car itself. He said the vehicle was a lease, and all vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion, and the Tesla executive team was investigating the matter.

The White House released a statement saying that President Joe Biden had been briefed. Biden said that the Justice Department was investigating whether there was a connection between the New Orleans car rampage and the car explosion in front of the Trump hotel in Las Vegas.

Regarding the investigation of the New Orleans car rampage, Biden cited the FBI's message that the suspect, who was killed by the police, posted videos on social media just hours before plowing into the crowd, suggesting that he was "inspired" by the extremist group ISIS.

After the attack in New Orleans, Trump issued a statement on social media, in which he said that the Trump administration would fully support the city of New Orleans as it investigated and recovered from this "purely evil" attack. In the statement, he said that "America has an unprecedented crime rate" and blamed criminals from illegal immigration.