US authorities are investigating potential links between the assailants behind two deadly attacks on New Year's Day in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
The investigation follows an incident on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, where Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, killed at least 15 people and injured many others after driving a truck into a crowd of revelers early Wednesday morning, bypassing police barricades.
The FBI has stated that it does not believe Jabbar acted alone, with Assistant Special Agent Alethea Duncan confirming that the agency is investigating whether he had accomplices, describing the event as an "act of terrorism".
Authorities are examining any possible connection between Jabbar, a US citizen and Army veteran, and the driver involved in the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel, which occurred just hours earlier.
Matthew Livelsberger, 37, a former Army veteran from Colorado Springs, was reportedly behind the wheel when the vehicle exploded, according to local media.
Denver7 News reported that Livelsberger and Jabbar may have both served at the same military base.
However, Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told reporters that, while investigators are exploring potential links to the New Orleans attack, no definitive connections have been found.
Both the FBI and local law enforcement said they believed the Tesla blast was an isolated incident.
McMahill also mentioned that authorities are considering whether the Las Vegas attack could be linked to US President-elect Donald Trump, who owns the hotel, or to Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla.
Musk, a close ally of Trump, stated on Wednesday afternoon that the "entire Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now," and promised to share more information as soon as it became available.
In a subsequent post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk clarified, "We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself."
It remains unclear whether Musk's statement has been independently verified.
Amid growing speculation over the attacks, US President Joe Biden stated on Wednesday, citing the FBI, that suspected New Orleans attacker Jabbar posted videos hours before ramming a truck into a New Year's crowd, "indicating that he was inspired by ISIS."
Biden referred to the Islamic State group by another name, adding that the FBI had shared this information with him.
McMahill said they had "no indication" so far that the blast in Las Vegas had any similar links to the extremist group.
He emphasised: "It's a Tesla truck, and we know Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump, and it's the Trump tower."
International condemnation poured in on Wednesday as countries around the world expressed their condolences to the victims of the attacks.
French President Emmanuel Macron, describing New Orleans as "so dear to the hearts of the French," strongly condemned the incident.
Other world leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, voiced their horror over the deaths.
The Las Vegas attack resulted in at least one fatality and seven injuries, while in New Orleans, approximately 30 people were injured.
Officials have yet to release the identities of those killed in the New Orleans attack, but families and friends have begun sharing stories of the victims.