TURO and Military Backgrounds Link New Orleans and Las Vegas Attacks

On January 1, as iconic Bourbon Street in New Orleans was filled with New Year's revelers, a pickup truck plowed straight into a crowd, killing at least 14 people, and injuring dozens more. The attack took place at about 3:15 a.m. Known as a "vehicle ramming attack," these attacks have increased in frequency over recent years. The investigation is ongoing, but as Bourbon Street reopens, here's what to know. Trevor Hughes / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ISIS Flag on Truck, Suspect Posted Killing Threats Before Attack

Authorities stated that the attack seemed to be ISIS-motivated. An ISIS flag flew on the truck he was driving, according to local and federal authorities.

Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, reported that in the hours before the Bourbon Street attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, posted five videos on Facebook in which he made references to killing his family.

Jabbar was killed while exchanging fire with police after ramming the truck through the crowd in the early hours of New Year’s Day. SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"He Was Kind": Family Grapples with Transformation

Jabbar was a Texas-born US citizen and Army veteran who served in Afghanistan. He was born and grew up in Beaumont, Texas.

According to his brother Abdur Jabbar, 24, and his father, Rahim Jabbar, 65, he was kind, and soft-spoken, so they couldn’t reconcile the attack with the person they knew. Jabbar's father, Rahim, stated: “That’s what’s puzzling us. He wasn’t going through something that we knew of.”

Jabbar was raised Muslim and regularly attended a mosque on Friday nights as a child. But his brother Abdur reports that he never showed any signs of radicalization and never spoke of ISIS.

Abdur said, “He’s never shared anything like that or of that nature with me. He understood what it meant to be a Muslim… It wasn’t this tragedy. It was the complete opposite.”

Possible Links to the Las Vegas Attack: The Turo App

While the F.B.I. has not stated a definitive link between this attack and the Tesla truck that exploded outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas, there are a few apparent similarities. Both vehicles were rented through an app called Turo.

In response to this unlikely connection, Turo released a statement: “Our trust and safety team is actively partnering with law enforcement authorities to share any information that could be helpful in their investigations."

"We do not believe that either renter had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat, and we are not currently aware of any information that indicates the two incidents are related. Turo is dedicated to fostering a trustworthy marketplace.” Photo by @appshunter.io on Unsplash

New Orleans and Las Vegas Suspects Both Served at Fort Bragg

According to Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department “both of the subjects served at Fort Bragg North Carolina”.

While there is no evidence to suggest Jabbar and Livelsberger knew each other, the two likely overlapped at Fort Bragg and while serving in Afghanistan. This investigation is ongoing, and updates will be posted as they become available. Stephen Lew-Imagn Images