US Probing if New Orleans Attack Is Linked to Blast Outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas

Spotlight on national security, terrorism weeks before Trump returns to office

US President Joe Biden said law enforcement officials were looking for any additional people who may have played a part in the attack in New Orleans that left at least 15 people dead.

Mr. Biden said initial indications – including social media videos posted by the suspect in the hours ahead of the attack – suggested he had been influenced by militant group ISIS but urged Americans to allow the investigation to proceed before drawing their own conclusions.

He also said law enforcement was examining if there was any link with the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside US President-elect Donald Trump's hotel in Las Vegas.

“The FBI is leading the investigation to determine what happened, why it happened, whether there was any continuing threat to public safety,” Mr. Biden said on the evening of Jan. 1 from Camp David, calling the violence in New Orleans a “despicable attack.”

The President said the law enforcement and intelligence communities would “continue to look for any connections, associations, or co-conspirators” and urged that “no one should jump to conclusions.”

Mr. Biden said the dead suspect, identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42 – was an American citizen who was born in Texas and who had served in the US Army. Mr. Biden said Jabbar had posted videos on social media expressing a desire to kill.

The incidents in New Orleans and Las Vegas have thrust questions about national security and terrorism to the forefront, with just weeks before Trump is set to be inaugurated for his second term.