FBI Finds ‘No Definitive Link’ Between New Orleans Terror Attack and Las Vegas Truck Blast at Trump Hotel

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill briefs the media about the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in front of the entrance to Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, on Jan. 1, 2025. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP

An FBI official said at a Jan. 2 press conference in Louisiana that the agency has not uncovered any links between a truck explosion outside President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas that injured a half dozen and killed one and a deadly terror attack in New Orleans that left at least 14 people dead.

Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said at a press conference in New Orleans on Jan. 2 that the agency’s investigation is still at an early stage but that investigators have not found any connection between the two attacks, both of which involved the use of rented pickup trucks as apparent weapons.

“We’re following up on all potential leads and not ruling everything out,” Raia said. “However, at this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas.”

Noting that it’s very early in the investigation, the FBI official said hundreds of tips have been called in about the incidents and that investigators are following them up “aggressively.” More updates would be forthcoming, he said.

In the New Orleans incident, the suspect—Shamsud-Din Jabbar—is alleged to have driven a rented Ford F-150 Lightning into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street at about 3:15 a.m. on Jan. 1, killing at least 14 people and injuring at least 35 more. Jabbar was killed after exiting the truck and exchanging gunfire with police. The FBI said in a Jan. 1 briefing that a potential improvised explosive device (IED) was found in the truck, along with other potential IEDs in New Orleans’ French Quarter.

Raia described the attack as a premeditated “evil act” of terrorism that was motivated by extremist ideology. He said Jabbar had joined the ISIS terrorist group over the summer and posted repeatedly online in support of the group and acts of terror. Raia said the FBI does not believe there is any danger to the public in connection with the attack and that Jabbar likely acted alone.

“We do not assess, at this point, that anyone else ... is involved in this attack, except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar,” Raia said.

The names of the 14 people killed in the attack have not been released, with Raia and other officials at the press conference expressing condolences to the victims’ families.

In the Las Vegas incident, a rented Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks, mortars, and fuel canisters detonated outside the Trump hotel several hours after the New Orleans attack. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill told a press conference on Jan. 1 that the blast left the occupant of the truck dead and seven people with minor injuries.

“We continue to hope and pray for their immediate recovery,” McMahill said of the injured, noting that local law enforcement was “well aware” of the deadly attack in New Orleans and the additional IEDs associated with it.

“With an explosion here, on an iconic Las Vegas boulevard, we are taking all of the precautions that we need to take to keep our community safe,” he said. “We’re looking for secondary devices, we’re taking it slow.”

McMahill said law enforcement does not believe that there is any further threat to the community and urged the public to avoid the area of the explosion.

In an update on Jan. 2, he said at a press conference that a military ID and a passport recovered in the Cybertruck belonged to 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger of Colorado Springs.

McMahill said that he does not yet have “100 percent” confirmation that the body, which was “burnt beyond recognition,” is Livelsberger’s because of the condition of the corpse. Other recovered documents, including credit cards and ID, are also associated with Livelsberger, McMahill said.

The sheriff said a handgun was found inside the truck and that the suspect had sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation, further complicating positive identification. He said full final confirmation of the body’s identity is pending DNA tests.

Livelsberger was an active-duty servicemember with the U.S. Army, the sheriff said, identifying him as a Green Beret operations sergeant on approved leave from his post in Germany, where he was serving with the 10th Special Forces Group.