'Appears likely to be an act of terrorism,' says Tesla CEO
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday suggested a possible connection between the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas, Nevada and a pickup truck attack in New Orleans, Louisiana, with both vehicles reportedly rented via the Turo app.
"Appears likely to be an act of terrorism. Both this Cybertruck and the F-150 suicide bomb in New Orleans were rented from Turo. Perhaps they are linked in some way," Musk said on X.
In Las Vegas, one person has been confirmed dead after the Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel, police confirmed Wednesday.
The deceased individual was inside the vehicle at the time of the blast, but the person's identity, including whether they were male or female, was not immediately clear, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a press conference.
Seven bystanders were injured in the explosion.
Videos posted on social media appear to show the vehicle engulfed in an inferno amid multiple small explosions and the sound of what appears to be fireworks.
In New Orleans, a white F-150 pickup truck plowed through the heart of the French Quarter around 3.15 a.m. (0915GMT) Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 30 others.
The FBI said it does not believe the man who rammed the truck into New Year's partygoers, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a US citizen from Texas, acted alone.
"We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates," Alethea Duncan, the FBI assistant special agent in charge of the New Orleans field office, told reporters at a press briefing.
"We cannot go into details about the subject's history. What I can tell you is the person was an Army veteran. We believe he was honorably discharged, but we're working through this process, figuring out all this information," Duncan added.
