NEW ORLEANS, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Investigators in New

Orleans were searching on Thursday for what motivated a U.S.

Army veteran flying an ISIS flag from his truck to plow into a

crowd of New Year's revelers, killing 15 people and injuring 30

more before dying in a shootout with police.

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

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

Afghanistan, had help in planning the deadly attack on a city

that will host the NFL Super Bowl next month.

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 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 New Orleans attack injured about 30 other people,

including two police officers wounded by gunfire from the

suspect, taking place a mere three hours into the New Year in

the historic French Quarter.

The victims included 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.

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

known as the Sugar Bowl - was rescheduled for Thursday

afternoon. 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.

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 said.

ISIS FLAG

An ISIS flag was attached to a staff protruding from the

trailer hitch of the rented vehicle, prompting an investigation

into possible links to terrorist organizations, the Federal

Bureau of Investigation said.

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.

ISIS - also called Islamic State or ISIL - 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.

"This is not just an act of terrorism, this is evil,"

Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said.