FBI: New Orleans Attacker Worked Alone, Las Vegas Blast Not Linked

The FBI said Thursday it believes the suspect in the New Orleans New Year's Day attack acted alone, and that there is no "definitive link" between that attack, in which at least 14 people died, as well as the suspect, and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas hours later.

The FBI has identified the New Orleans driver as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar.

"This investigation is only a little more than 24 hours old, so I ask you to keep in mind that as I go through some of the specifics later," Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, said during a press conference in New Orleans Thursday. "We do not assess at this point that anyone else is involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar."

Jabbar, 42, was a U.S. citizen who lived in Texas.

Raia said additional teams of special agents and specialists are continuing with the New Orleans investigation, including combing through all tips that have been received. 

"We are looking in everything in Jabbar's life," he said. "Whether you know Jabbar personally, worked with him, served in the military, or saw him in New Orleans or Texas, we need to talk to you. You may not think you have relevant information but what you know could tie in to one of our investigative leads."

"This was an act of terrorism," Raia said. "It was premeditated and an evil act."

Meanwhile, the FBI's investigation into the incident in Las Vegas also continues, said Raia, and while nothing is being ruled out, "there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas," he said.