Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 3, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba TOP NEWS A3 FRIDAY JANUARY 3, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM The attack plans also included the placement of crude bombs in the neighbourhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other de- vices were determined to be nonfunc- tional. Officials reviewed surveillance video showing people standing near one of the coolers but concluded that they were not connected “in any way” with the attack. Investigators still want to speak with them as witnesses, Raia said. Investigators were also trying to understand more about Jabbar’s path to radicalization, which they say culminated with him picking up a rented truck in Houston on Dec. 30 and driving it to New Orleans the following night. The FBI recovered a black Islamic State flag from his rented pickup and reviewed five videos posted to Face- book, including one in which he said he originally planned to harm his family and friends but “was concerned that news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” Raia said. Jabbar also stated that he joined IS before last summer, and he provided a last will and testament, the FBI said. Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serv- ing on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploy- ing to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant. A U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly, said Jabbar traveled to Egypt in 2023, staying in Cairo for a week, before returning to the U.S. and then traveling to Toronto for three days. It was not immediately clear what he did during those travels. Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, Jabbar’s younger brother, told The Associated Press on Thursday that it “doesn’t feel real” that his brother could have done this. “I never would have thought it’d be him,” he said. “It’s completely unlike him.” He said his brother had been isolated in the last few years, but he had also been in touch with him recently and had not seen any signs of radicalization. “It’s completely contradictory to who he was and how his family and his friends know him,” he said. Chris Pousson, of Beaumont, Texas, said he became friends with Sham- sud-Din Jabbar in middle school, describing him as someone who was quiet and reserved and did not get into trouble. After high school, he said, they reconnected on Facebook around 2008 or 2009 and would message back and forth throughout the next decade. “If any red flags would have popped off, I would have caught them, and I would have contacted the proper authorities,” he said. “But he didn’t give anything to me that would have suggested that he is capable of doing what happened.” In New Orleans on Thursday, a still-reeling city inched back toward normal operations. Authorities finished processing the scene early in the morning, removing the last of the bodies, and Bourbon Street — famous worldwide for music, open-air drinking and festive vibes — reopened for business by early afternoon. The Sugar Bowl college football playoff game between Notre Dame and Georgia, initially set for Wednes- day night and postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was played Thursday evening. The city also planned to host the Super Bowl next month. New Orleans “is not only ready for game day today, but we’re ready to continue to host large-scale events in our city because we are built to host at every single turn,” New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said. — The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS ● FROM A1 Cybertruck packed with fireworks exploded outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel Soldier shot self in head before detonation L AS VEGAS — The highly decor- ated Army soldier inside a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks that exploded outside Trump Inter- national Hotel in Las Vegas shot him- self in the head just before detonation, authorities said Thursday. The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but virtually no damage to the hotel. Clark County Sheriff Kevin Mc- Mahill said Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret, likely planned a more damaging attack but the steel- sided vehicle absorbed much of the force from the crudely built explosive. Damage from the blast was mostly limited to the interior of the truck be- cause the explosion “vented out and up” and didn’t hit the Trump hotel doors just a few feet away, the sheriff said. “The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individ- ual with this type of military experi- ence,” said Kenny Cooper, a special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alco- hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Authorities are still working to deter- mine a motive. “It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this par- ticular ideology,” said Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI’s special agent in charge. Livelsberger had recently returned from an overseas assignment in Ger- many and was on approved leave when he died, according to a U.S. official. A law enforcement official said in- vestigators learned through interviews that he may have gotten into a fight with his wife about relationship issues shortly before he rented the Tesla and bought the guns. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation. Among the charred items found in- side the truck were a handgun at Livels- berger’s feet, another firearm, a num- ber of fireworks, a passport, a military ID, credit cards, an iPhone and a smart- watch, McMahill said. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally. Investigators identified the vehicle’s driver — who was burned beyond rec- ognition — as Livelsberger, of Colorado Springs, on Thursday. The cause of death was suicide by gunshot, accord- ing to the Clark County coroner. Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of over- seas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said. He was awarded a total of five Bronze Stars, including one with a valour de- vice for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commen- dation Medal with valour. McMahill said Livelsberger rented the Tesla electric vehicle in Denver on Saturday and the sheriff displayed a map showing that it was charged in the Colorado town of Monument near Colorado Springs on Monday. On New Year’s Eve, it was charged in Trinidad, Colo., and three towns in New Mexico along the Interstate 40 corridor. Then on Wednesday, the day of the explosion, it was charged in three Ari- zona towns before video showed it on the Las Vegas Strip about 7:30 a.m. McMahill said investigators obtained charging station photos showing Liv- elsberger “was the individual that was driving this vehicle” and was alone. “We’re not aware of any other sub- jects involved in this particular case,” the sheriff said. Authorities searched a townhouse in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday as part of the investigation. Neighbours said the man who lived there had a wife and a baby and did not give any sign of posing a danger to anyone. Cindy Helwig, who lives diagonally across a narrow street separating the homes, said she last saw the man she knew as Matthew about two weeks ago when he asked her if she had a tool he needed to fix the SUV he was working on. “He was a normal guy,” said Helwig, who said she last saw his wife and baby earlier this week. Helwig noted that people in the townhome on a hill with views of the mountains don’t interact much except for when they’re getting the mail or walking their dogs. The explosion of the truck, packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, came hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 14 people before being shot to death by police. That crash was being investigated as a terrorist attack. The FBI said Thursday that they believe Jabbar acted alone, re- versing its position from a day earlier that he likely worked with others. Both Livelsberger and Jabbar spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that is home to multiple Army special operations units. However, one of the officials who spoke to the Asso- ciated Press said there is no overlap in their assignments at the base, now called Fort Liberty. Chris Raia, FBI deputy assistant dir- ector, said Thursday that officials have found “no definitive link” between the New Orleans attack and the truck ex- plosion in Las Vegas. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wed- nesday afternoon on X that “we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rent- ed Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.” — The Associated Press TARA COPP, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, COLLEEN LONG AND TY ONEIL BIZUAYEHU TESFAYE / LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL VIA AP A police vehicle is parked outside Trump International Hotel on Thursday in Las Vegas. LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPARTMENT VIA AP An ID belonging to Matthew Livelsberger, found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday (right). ALCIDES ANTUNES VIA AP GEORGE WALKER IV / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A state trooper stands by New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon streets, Thursday. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION VIA AP Surveillance footage shows Shamsud-Din Jabbar an hour before he drove a truck down Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Wednesday. ;