Attack in New Orleans: Biden: Assassin had remote detonators for explosive devices in the car

According to US President Joe Biden, the New Orleans attacker had a remote detonator for explosive devices in his vehicle. Biden said on Thursday (local time) that the FBI had informed him that the attacker had acted alone. He was also the one who placed explosive devices in freezers at other locations in the French Quarter a few hours before the terrorist attack.

The man drove his pickup truck into a crowd in the city’s popular nightlife district on New Year’s morning. 14 people were killed. The attacker died in an exchange of fire with police officers.

FBI sees no connection to explosion in Las Vegas

US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas warned against seeing a connection between the two incidents due to some similarities between the New Orleans attack and the electric car explosion in Las Vegas. The New Orleans attacker served in the US Army and continued as a reservist for years. Investigators in Las Vegas suspect that the person who burned in the exploded car was also a soldier – still active. Another parallel: Both vehicles involved were rented via the same brokerage platform.

“That doesn’t necessarily make a connection between the two events,” Mayorkas said in a CNN interview when asked about the parallels. “I don’t think we know enough yet.”

FBI investigators had also previously said that the Federal Police Agency currently sees no connection between the attack and the explosion of the Tesla cybertruck. Biden also emphasized this, but at the same time assured that investigations would continue to determine whether there was any connection between the incidents.