News Information and Media Site: Nightly Rundown: FBI: New Orleans attacker acted alone; Sugar Bowl kicks off under heightened security; Cybertruck explosion driver believed to be U.S. soldier

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By Dan Donahue

Thursday, January 02, 2025

Good Thursday afternoon. The FBI now believes the attacker who killed 14 people in New Orleans acted alone, the Sugar Bowl kicked off under heightened security after being delayed due to the attack, and the driver of a Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas is believed to be an Army soldier.

Here is what's in our Nightly Rundown.

New Orleans attacker believed to have acted alone, "100% inspired by ISIS," FBI says

The attacker who plowed a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and killed 14 people on New Year's Day is believed to have acted alone and was "100% inspired by ISIS," an FBI official said today.

"This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act," Chris Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI's counter-terrorism division, said at a news conference. "We do not assess at this point that anyone else is involved in this attack," he added.

The FBI has identified the attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran from Texas. Jabbar posted several videos prior to the attack to an online platform "proclaiming his support for ISIS," Raia said.

Two improvised explosive devices in coolers were also found, one at a Bourbon Street intersection and another two blocks away, Raia said. Both were rendered safe at the scene. Investigators have obtained surveillance video showing Jabbar placing the explosives, Raia said.

The FBI had initially said Wednesday that it did not believe Jabbar was "solely responsible" for the attack. Raia walked that back today, saying that "many people" had stopped to look at the coolers but the FBI does not believe they were involved in the attack in "any way."

Raia also said the FBI has found "no definitive link" at this point between the attack in New Orleans and the intentional explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

FBI lays out New Orleans attack timeline, searching Jabbar's devices for evidence

The FBI also laid out the most detailed timeline yet leading up to the attack, as they scour several of Jabbar's devices for evidence.

Jabbar rented the Ford F-150 truck in Houston on Dec. 30, then drove to New Orleans on the evening of Dec. 31, Raia said.

He posted five videos to his Facebook account, stating in one of them that he "originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the 'war between the believers and the disbelievers,'" according to Raia.

Investigators have recovered three phones linked to Jabbar, as well as two laptops from a home in Mandeville, a city outside New Orleans, Raia said.

Sugar Bowl kicks off, Bourbon Street reopens under heightened security

The Sugar Bowl, postponed after Wednesday's deadly attack, kicked off this afternoon at the Superdome in New Orleans under heightened security, despite calls from some officials for the game to be further delayed.

Bourbon Street was also reopened to the public about a half-hour before the game began, after investigators cleared the crime scene.

"I want to reassure the public that the city of New Orleans is not only ready for game day today, but we're ready to continue to host large scale events in our city," Mayor LaToya Cantrell said. New Orleans is set to host the Super Bowl next month.

Cantrell said the victims of the attack have been identified, and their families notified. They include a former Princeton University football player, a recent high school graduate and a father of two.

Driver in Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas believed to be active duty Army soldier, authorities say

The FBI said it believes an active duty U.S. Army soldier was the driver who was killed in the explosion of Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas Wednesday, but they are awaiting DNA results for confirmation.

The truck was rented by Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado Springs, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at today's news conference.

The person found inside the truck wreckage suffered a gunshot to the head before the explosion, McMahill said.

Inside the Cybertruck, investigators found a military ID, a passport, guns, fireworks, an iPhone, and a smartwatch, McMahill said.

The FBI said there are no other subjects of the investigation at this time.

What else we're watching:

An Arctic blast is sending temperatures plunging across the eastern United States, and we're tracking a massive winter storm taking aim this weekend.

A kindergartener was killed in a school bus accident today, school officials in Wisconsin said.

Human remains were found near the site of a Michigan music festival, six years after a man disappeared while attending the event, police said.

Firefighters and workers at a Maryland research lab are undergoing decontamination after being exposed to smoke from a sterilization machine that caught fire today, fire officials said.

A man who drove onto the sidewalk near the U.S. Capitol today was arrested and a bomb squad cleared the car, authorities said.

Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app.