Federal and local law enforcement officials are searching for a possible connection between the deadly truck attack in New Orleans and the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas, President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, rammed a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourdon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens of others before being shot to death by police, according to authorities. Later in the day, a Tesla-made Cybertruck exploded outside the entrance the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, killing the driver and injury at least seven others.
Speaking to reporters following the incidents, Biden said federal and local authorities were looking into any possible link.
"We're tracking the explosion of a Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas," Biden said in public remarks. "Law enforcement and the intelligence community are investigating this as well, including whether there's any possible connection with the attack in New Orleans. Thus far, there's nothing to report on that score at this time."
Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told reporters that police have been looking for any link between the two cases, but had nothing to add. The only known link has been that both cars were rented using the vehicle-sharing app Turo.
In a statement, a Turo spokesperson said: "We are actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents. 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 FBI said the New Orleans attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism. Weapons and a potential improvised explosive device were found in the suspect's vehicle.
"An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject's potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations," the FBI said in a statement.
No evidence has been uncovered linking the Vegas explosion to any known organization.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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