New military papers have been disclosed about the attackers who struck on New Year’s Day, Matthew Livelsberger and Shamsud-Din Jabbar. The documents reveal that although the two were based at the then-Fort Bragg and sent to Afghanistan, they did not serve alongside each other.
On New Year’s Day, both Livelsberger and Jabbar carried out attacks in two major U.S. cities.
42-year-old Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, drove a rented pickup truck adorned with an ISIS flag into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans in the early hours, causing the deaths of more than a dozen individuals and injuring many others. Livelsberger, on the other hand, detonated a Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas later the same morning.
During the initial stages of the inquiry, investigators indicated that both individuals were former Army members stationed at Fort Bragg, which is now recognized as Fort Liberty in North Carolina. They were concurrently deployed in Afghanistan, prompting some to speculate that the events were related and that the two culprits had collaborated.
The Cybertruck on fire, left, and investigators inspecting the damage, right. (Alcides Antunes/via REUTERS | Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
“Although this incident is more public and more sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who is struggling with PTSD and other issues,” McMahill said.
Police officials on Friday also released sections of Livelsberger’s “manifesto.”
“This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake-up call,” Livelsberger wrote, according to the cropped notes shared by Las Vegas police. “Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives?”
The New Orleans attack, on the other hand, was clearly terror-inspired, authorities said. Jabbar, who had pledged allegiance to ISIS, killed 14 people and injured dozens more, according to authorities, who said Jabbar then opened fire on responding officers. They returned fire and killed him.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
