 "New Orleans police and federal agents investigate a suspected terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year's Day on January 1, 2025. AP")
It was a violent start to the New Year for the United States. Multiple incidents were reported on Wednesday (January 1), killing at least 16 people and injuring several others.
An attack by a US Army veteran in New Orleans, a public shooting in New York and a Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas has stunned America. Authorities are investigating the incidents and it is yet to be known whether there is a connection between any of them.
Let’s take a closer look.
New Orleans attack
A 42-year-old US Army veteran, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar , drove a pickup truck into a crowd early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people.
The attacker drove around police barricades and ploughed into New Year revellers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Jabbar was shot dead by police after he came out of the truck and opened fire on responding officers, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said, as per Associated Press (AP).
Over 30 people were injured in the attack, including two police officers who were hit by gunfire but were in stable condition.
A black flag of the terrorist Islamic State group was found on the truck’s rear bumper. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism, reported CBS News.
US President Joe Biden said later on Wednesday the FBI discovered just hours before the attack, Jabbar “posted videos to social media indicating that he was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.”
“He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said.
The FBI suspects Jabbar was not a lone wolf and had help to carry out the attack. “We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible," FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said at a news conference.
Investigators found a handgun, an AR-style rifle and two potential improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in the rented pickup truck driven by the attacker.
One other IED was found in the French Quarter, and was detonated by law enforcement, a person familiar with the investigation told CBS News.
Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas
A Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel early Wednesday. The person inside the vehicle died and seven others were injured.
Authorities are investigating the incident as a possible terrorist attack. The blast came just hours after the New Orleans attack.
Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said the police know who rented the Tesla truck with the Turo rental app in Colorado but is determining if it is the same person who died, as per AP.
He also reportedly said no link was found to the terrorist group ISIS, but “we are investigating every aspect of this.”
McMahill said the pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack was also rented from Turo. When asked whether the two incidents were linked, he said, “I don’t know,” adding “but we are investigating whether there is any connectivity.”
As per NBC News, Turo said in a statement, “We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat.”
The sheriff said the Tesla arrived at 7:30 am local time in Las Vegas and exploded an hour later, about 15-20 seconds after reaching the Trump International Hotel.
He said Tesla CEO Elon Musk provided video of the Cybertruck at Tesla charging stations that helped authorities track the vehicle’s journey to Las Vegas.
Musk, who is also a top adviser in the incoming Trump administration, said on X that the explosion had nothing to do with the vehicle.
“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself,” Musk claimed. “All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”
Police later found gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters, and large firework mortars in the back of the vehicle.
“This is a Tesla truck, and we know that Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump, and it’s the Trump Tower,” McMahill said. “So there’s obviously things to be concerned about and it’s something we continue to look at.”
Queens nightclub shooting
In a third violent incident on New Year’s Day, three to four men opened fire on a group of 16 to 20 year olds outside the Amazura nightclub in Jamaica, Queens, New York.
At least 30 shots were fired, injuring 10 people, before the gunmen fled on foot, Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera said on Thursday, as per AP. The gunmen then got into a light-coloured Sedan with out of state plates.
Six women and four men were hospitalised with non-life threatening injuries.
While the motive is not known yet, Rivera said: “This is not terrorism.”
With inputs from agencies