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The suspect who drove through a crowd at a New Year's event in New Orleans and the driver of a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a Las Vegas hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump reportedly served at the same military base, Denver7 reports.
Matthew Livelsberger is accused of renting a Cybertruck in Colorado Springs and detonating it outside the entrance of Trump International Hotel Wednesday (January 1) morning, which resulted in his own death and several bystanders being injured. The incident took place hours after Shamsud-Din Jabbar rented a truck and plowed through a crowd at a New Year's celebration in the French Quarter, which resulted in at least 15 deaths and dozens other being injured, as well as the postponement of the College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl matchup between Notre Dame and Georgia scheduled to be held at Caesars Superdome later that evening.
Both Livelsberger and Din Jabbar were confirmed to be U.S. Army veterans accused of possible acts of terrorism, according to Denver7's Tony Kovaleski.
"BREAKING—Sources also confirming Livelsberger served at the same military base as the terrorist responsible for the attack in New Orleans and authorities are investigating a possible connection between the two men," Kovaleski wrote on his X account.
Jabbar enlisted in the U.S. Army in March 2007, having worked in human resources and information technology, and deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, having later transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve in 2015 and serving until July 2020, at which point he left the military as a staff sergeant, the Associated Press reports. Jabbar is suspected to have not acted alone in the New Orleans incident.
Livelsberger's military background wasn't as clear at the time of publication. Federal agents were reported to be staking out one of multiple addresses in Colorado Springs that were associated with him and awaiting a search warrant on Wednesday, according to Denver7.