The News
At least 14 people were killed after a man drove a truck into a crowd in the US city of New Orleans on New Year’s Day, an attack President Joe Biden said was inspired by the Islamic State group.
The FBI identified the attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a US army veteran from Texas. The incident was an “act of terrorism,” the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counter-terrorism division said at a press conference Thursday, adding that Jabbar appeared to have acted alone.
Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck into crowds in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter in the early hours of Jan. 1, before opening fire and being killed by police.
Know More
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could… He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” the city’s police superintendent told a news conference.
The FBI said Thursday there was “no definitive link” between the New Orleans attack and an explosion involving a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by Donald Trump’s business empire in Las Vegas. Inflammable materials in the trunk of the truck exploded, killing the driver and injuring seven others.
The use of vehicles as terror weapons has grown in recent years, The Associated Press reported.