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Authorities investigate possible links to terrorist

organizations

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Security heightened for upcoming Sugar Bowl and Super Bowl

events

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FBI finds IS flag on suspect's vehicle, no link to Vegas

incident yet

By Brian Thevenot

NEW ORLEANS, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The investigation into

what motivated a U.S. Army veteran carrying an Islamic State

flag on his truck to plow into a crowd of New Year's revelers

intensified on Thursday as authorities beefed up security ahead

the Sugar Bowl football game to be played less a mile from the

scene of Wednesday's mayhem.

The probe was focused on whether the suspect, Shamsud-Din

Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas who once served in

Afghanistan, had helped in planning the deadly attack on the

city, which will also host the NFL Super Bowl next month. At

least 15 people were killed in the attack.

FBI officials said they were also looking for any links between

the deadly attack and a separate incident on Wednesday in which

a Tesla Cybertruck packed with gasoline canisters and large

firework mortars exploded in flames outside the Trump

International Hotel in Las Vegas, just weeks before

President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on Jan.

20.

The injured victims in the New Orleans attack included two

police officers wounded by gunfire from the suspect, taking

place a mere three hours into the new year in the historic

French Quarter.

Among the victims were the mother of a 4-year-old who had just

moved into a new apartment after getting a promotion at work, a

New York financial employee and accomplished student-athlete who

was visiting home for the holidays, and an 18-year-old aspiring

nurse from Mississippi.

Witnesses described a horrifying scene.

"There were people everywhere," Kimberly Strickland of

Mobile, Alabama, said in an interview. "You just heard this

squeal and the rev of the engine and this huge loud impact and

then the people screaming and debris - just metal - the sound of

crunching metal and bodies."

Meanwhile authorities vowed to continue to search for any

evidence that Jabbar had accomplices. The FBI Wednesday said

they did not believe he was solely responsible and that they

were looking at "a range of suspects" linked to the attack.

Police found weapons and a potential explosive device in the

vehicle, while two potential explosive devices were found in the

French Quarter and rendered safe, the FBI added.

The FBI along with Louisiana and other U.S. officials will

hold a news briefing at 11 a.m. (1600 GMT), according to NBC

News. President Biden will also convene his homeland security

team in the Situation Room for an update on the investigation at

12:15 p.m. (1715 GMT), the White House said.

One New Year's Day tradition - the classic college football

known as the Sugar Bowl - was rescheduled for Thursday afternoon

at Caesars Superdome, less than a mile from Bourbon Street and

Canal, where the truck attack unfolded. Kickoff for the game

between Notre Dame and Georgia was put off for nearly 24 hours

while police swept parts of the city looking for possible

explosive devices and converged on neighborhoods in search of

clues.

The city will also host the NFL Super Bowl on Feb. 9, an

event that will bring tens of thousands of fans to the area.

New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne

Kirkpatrick, in television interviews on Thursday, said there

would be additional security for both games.

"We think that we can keep this community safe," she told

CBS News' "CBS Mornings" program. "We're going to, indeed,

harden these targets."

Meanwhile, authorities in other U.S. cities said they had

boosted security, including at Trump Tower and Times Square in

New York City, adding that there were no immediate threats.

In Washington, which hosts three major events this month -

Congress' Jan. 6 certification of U.S. President-elect Donald

Trump's presidential election win, the Jan. 9 state funeral for

former President Jimmy Carter and Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration -

police also said they had increased their presence.

ISLAMIC STATE FLAG

The FBI said an IS flag was attached to a staff protruding from

the trailer hitch of the rented vehicle involved in the New

Orleans attack, prompting an investigation into possible links

to terrorist organizations.

U.S. President Joe Biden condemned what he called a

"despicable" act and said investigators were looking into

whether there might be a link to a Tesla truck fire outside a

Trump hotel in Las Vegas. So far, there was no evidence linking

the two events, the president and FBI said.

Public records showed Jabbar worked in real estate in

Houston. In a promotional video posted four years ago, Jabbar

described himself as born and raised in Beaumont, a city about

80 miles (130 km) east of Houston.

Jabbar was in the regular Army from March 2007 until

January 2015 and then in the Army Reserve from January 2015

until July 2020, an Army spokesperson said. He deployed to

Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010 and held the rank

of staff sergeant at the end of service.

CNN, citing officials briefed on the investigation, said the

suspect recorded videos in which he mentioned dreams about

joining ISIS and once contemplated killing his family after a

divorce.

IS is a Muslim militant group that once imposed a reign of

terror over millions of people in Iraq and Syria until it

collapsed following a sustained military campaign by a U.S.-led

coalition.

Even as it has been weakened in the field, ISIS has continued to

recruit sympathizers online, experts say.