Suspects In New Orleans, Las Vegas Truck Attacks Reportedly Served On The Same Army Base [Update]

New Year’s Day was marred by violence when two men used trucks in separate incidents that are now being investigated as terrorist attacks. While the attacks did occur on the same day, their methods were wildly different, and there was little reason to believe they may be connected. Now, it appears both men served on the same Army base, prompting authorities to investigate a possible connection between the two men, Denver7 Investigates reports.

Update 1/02/2024 4:25 P.M. – Authorities say they do not currently believe there was a connection between the two attacks, with FBI’s counterterrorism deputy assistant director Chris Raia telling reporters, “At this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas,” NBC News reports. Raia added that they now believe Jabbar acted alone, saying, “We do not assess at this point that anyone else is involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar.” Authorities also say Livelsberger suffered a gunshot wound to the head prior to the explosion, NPR reports.

That said, don’t go jumping to conclusions just yet. Denver7 cites “multiple informed sources” in its report but doesn’t have any details beyond that. We don’t even know for sure if they were there at the same time, and it’s entirely possible that they didn’t even know each other and were working independently. Both did reportedly use Turo to rent the electric trucks they used in their attacks, but as previously mentioned, their methods were wildly different.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar reportedly drove a rented F-150 Lightning down New Orleans’ Bourbon Street while party-goers were celebrating the new year in the early hours of the morning, the BBC reports. He died in a shootout with police after killing at least 14 others and sending about 30 more to the hospital, bringing the current death total to 15. Later that same day, Matthew Livelsberger reportedly filled a rented Cybertruck with fireworks and gas canisters before parking it in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas and setting off an explosion that killed himself and injured seven others, NBC News reports.

While less is known about Livelsberger and the Vegas attack, we do know he was a Green Beret who had 18 years of Special Forces experience, Newsweek reports. Authorities say they also believe it is unlikely that Jabbar acted alone and are searching for possible accomplices. Jabbar joined the Army in 2007 and deployed to Afghanistan for 11 months in February 2009 before transferring to the Army Reserve in 2015. He left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant. While we still don’t know much about his motives for the attack, the truck was reportedly carrying an ISIS flag.