welcome to the programme. with sally so in the us. the man who drove into a large crowd in new orleans in the early hours of new year's day has been identified as 42—year—old shamsud—dinjabbar, a us citizen and army veteran from texas. at least 15 people have died. dozens more have been injured. the attacker was killed in a shoot—out with police officers. two of those officers were injured. authorities say the attack was an act of terrorism, and jabbar wasn't the only one responsible. these images shared by earthcam show a group of police officers running toward the scene. and this picture from social media, checked by our team at bbc verify, shows law

enforcement, many heavily armed, surrounding a white pick—up truck in the aftermath of the incident. an islamic state group flag was found in the vehicle along with potential explosive devices. local officials say that ensuring safety for all residents and tourists in the area is now a top priority. our correspondent tom bateman has the lastest from new orleans. new orleans at new year's eve. this part of the city is its best known, a tourism and nightlife hotspot. just after 3am, chaos unfolds. the first signs of panic as police raced to the scene. what they find, much of which is too graphic to show, is the immediate aftermath of a ramming attack. officers say a man in a pickup truck ploughed into a crowd, trying to run over as many people as he could. he then unleashed a shoot—out with police, who fired back and killed him. it involved a man driving a pick—up truck down

bourbon street at a very fast pace, it was very intentional behaviour, and this man was trying to run over as many people as you possibly could. he was hell—bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did. a british tourist, steve hyde, was in the city to celebrate his birthday. i was in a bar, 15 metres from bourbon street, and we were having a great time, i had been in there for about 2.5 hours, and then we heard shots and saw people running past the window. and we did not really know what was going on, obviously. but we heard the shots and we knew it wasn't going to be good. dozens were wounded, including two police officers hit by gunfire. police evacuated a wide area and say they found a potential explosive device in the truck

and other possible devices outside it before they carried out controlled explosions. the fbi says the attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism. at the latest press conference, officials have given more information about the suspect. the subject has been identified as 42—year—old shamsud—dinjabbar, a us born citizen from texas. he was driving a ford pick—up truck and we are working to confirm how he came into possession of this vehicle. a isis flag was located on the trailer hitch of the vehicle and the fbi is working to determine his potential association and affiliations with terrorist organisations. investigators are now scouring the scene for clues, as further details are emerging about the background of shamsud—dinjabbar, including his us military background. this afternoon, president biden gave his reaction. i have spoken to every

member of the agency, from the cia to the national security team, to the fbi, nsc, and we are gathering information. what was the reaction when you heard what happened? it was one of anger and frustration. he says the white house is offering its full support to the city, support to the city, which is now ushering which is now ushering in the new year, grieving in the new year, grieving its dead and praying its dead and praying for the wounded. for the wounded. tom bateman, bbc tom bateman, bbc news, new orleans. news, new orleans. president biden did speak president biden did speak at camp david a bit at camp david a bit earlier this evening. earlier this evening. the suspect posted the suspect posted videos in support of islamic date just before videos in support of islamic date just before so while this person committed he carried out the attack, he carried out the attack, saying shamsud—dinjabbar saying shamsud—dinjabbar was inspired by is and a desire was inspired by is and a desire to kill and also to kill and also said the attack said the attack would not break the would not break the spirit of the city. spirit of the city. new orleans is a place new orleans is a place unlike any other in the world, unlike any other in the world, a city full of charm and joy. a city full of charm and joy. so many people around so many people around the world love new orleans the world love new orleans because of its history, because of its history, culture, and culture, and

above all its people, above all its people, so while this person committed a terrible assault on the city, the spirit of new orleans will never, never be defeated. it will always shine.

at the heart of the french quarter this is the historic district in new orleans filled with restaurants and bars where people normally have a great time, this is bourbon street over my shoulder, this is where the attack took place in the early hours of new year's day. you can see this is still an active crime scene, the governor has been calling it, and plenty of police presence as well, we saw many members of the fbi locking the roads along bourbon street where the attack took place, three streets in a travelling at high speed. however, it has to be said this is a new wall is, the city is trying to get what it does best, and that is having fun. looking at the surrounding area you hear the jazz music, people out eating and drinking, there was supposed to be an important football game tonight and that has been postponed until tomorrow, you can see them on the streets, not the same lively atmosphere it would have been but this is the city that

is starting to try to come back to life at least a bit. to completely recover would be impossible, we are starting to learn some of the names and identities are some of those 15 people that we killed in the attack. the view that we do know were very young, almost in their teens, 18 or 19, so this is a city that will now turn to mourning those victims as well. the police will continue their investigations into what happened. can you give to speed on what have said? this investigation _ on what have said? this investigation is - on what have said? this investigation is still - on what have said? ti 3 investigation is still ongoing, using the presence there, looking into the suspect and his background, shamsud—din jabbar, a us citizen, 42 years old from texas, serving in the us army for many years but now they are expanding research and looking into his background, any potential contacts or anyone who knows him because they believe he may not have acted alone. there are some

suggestions there were accomplices, it is still murky right now in terms of that investigation, there were some clues, authorities thinking them out of his explosive devices not only within the vehicle but also planted outside, some controlled explosions were here earlier as the city tried to get rid of those. you're not sure whether they are viable explosives or not but this is a search that has now expanded, we saw a search earlier a couple of miles away in a new wallet and a rental property where it is believed the attacker might have stayed. there has also been some heavy police presence in houston where the suspect is believed to be from. this is now very much expanding and authorities are not have a handle yet on whether or not there is only one suspect or more but there definitely into that right now, still here new orleans.

ina in a loss a tablet cybertruck explosion outside the trump hotel has killed one person and injured seven others. elon musk said on x... he effectively said it was not a fault with the vehicle itself. local officials have not confirmed the cause and are looking into a number of leaves, urging people to avoid the area around the hotel while the area around the hotel while the conduct the investigation. joe biden said the authorities are investigating any possible connection between the blast in las vegas and the attack in new orleans. we are tracking the exclusion of the cybertruck outside trump hotel in las vegas, law enforcement and intelligence communities are investigating this as well. including whether there is any possible connection with the attack in new orleans.

so far there is nothing to report at this time. a las vegas sheriff told a news conference there appeared to be a number of coincidences that would be fully investigated. doi do i think it is a coincidence? i don't know but we are investigating into what happened as well as other attacks that have occurred around the world, not ruling anything out yet. i5 around the world, not ruling anything out yet.— anything out yet. is there a possibility _ anything out yet. is there a possibility this _ anything out yet. is there a possibility this has - anything out yet. is there a possibility this has links - anything out yet. is there a possibility this has links to | possibility this has links to isis? — possibility this has links to isis? , ., , isis? the question it is there any links _ isis? the question it is there any links to _ isis? the question it is there any links to isis _ isis? the question it is there any links to isis and - isis? the question it is there any links to isis and i - isis? the question it is there any links to isis and i will. any links to isis and i will tell you that we don't have any indication of that in las vegas, no isis flag was seen as a new orleans, but we are investigating every aspect and if they come through light we will certainly update you. inaudible.— will certainly update you. inaudible. ., ., , inaudible. one hour was the time between _ inaudible. one hour was the time between the _ inaudible. one hour was the time between the arrival, - inaudible. one hour was the time between the arrival, or. time between the arrival, or our first notification of the

arrival, and the explosion that occurred. it is a tesla truck, we know elon musk is working with donald trump and the trump tower, so there is obviously these to be concerned about, something we continue look at. i'm joiner by the director of the triangle centre on terrorism and media blue, a professor at georgia state university and expert on terrorism. let's discuss the events that have been happening in new orleans, a flag of the islamic state was found in the vehicle used there, is that enough authorities recall that an act of terrorism?— an act of terrorism? what moorbel— an act of terrorism? what moorbel they _ an act of terrorism? what moorbel they look - an act of terrorism? what moorbel they look for? i an act of terrorism? what i moorbel they look for? they will look through his posts, uploading videos and supporting isis ideology online, social media, the idea is that if shamsud—dinjabbar engaged in shamsud—din jabbar engaged in the attack shamsud—dinjabbar engaged in the attack in order to spread a

message, targeting civilians, thenit message, targeting civilians, then it is terrorism. the bar is relatively low in a case like this because it is easy when you see an isis flag, the difficult thing is ascertaining whether he was merely inspired or actually directed by isis and my guess would be inspired because isis is an extremely weak position right now and it looks like killalea some of the attacks we saw in 2016, when isis was at its height in syria and iraq. isis was at its height in syria and iraq-— isis was at its height in syria and iran. ~ ., . ., and iraq. we now have the name ofthe and iraq. we now have the name of the attacker, _ and iraq. we now have the name of the attacker, 42-year-old - of the attacker, 42—year—old shamsud—dinjabbar, a us army veteran, it surprise you? hot veteran, it surprise you? not necessarily- _ veteran, it surprise you? not necessarily. we _ veteran, it surprise you? iirrt necessarily. we have seen some former military officials be involved in terrorist attacks. the groups might look for people who have that kind of

training. forsome people who have that kind of training. for some reason there seems to be maybe some vulnerability, peoplejoin the vulnerability, people join the military vulnerability, peoplejoin the military because they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, and in some ways that is what inspires people to engage in these violent acts of extremism as well, the attached to the ideologies and then they are prepared to take action based on that. ~ ., prepared to take action based on that. ~ . , on that. we heard president biden talking _ on that. we heard president biden talking earlier, - on that. we heard president biden talking earlier, saying that the suspect had been acting alone, what does that mean for investigators looking into the incident? —— not acting alone. into the incident? -- not acting alone.— into the incident? -- not acting alone. there was a document _ acting alone. there was a document that _ acting alone. there was a document that was - acting alone. there was a | document that was leaked acting alone. there was a . document that was leaked to acting alone. there was a - document that was leaked to the associated press that said there were three men and one women associated with him who may have been planting ied at the scene and so it literally perspective of the fbi they are investigating whether this is a cell rather than a lone actor attack. just to add one thing,

what is unusual about this being a military veteran is that the vast majority of the military veterans who get involved in extremism get involved in extremism get involved in extremism get involved in a right wing extremism, this is unusual, like previous attacks when you have military members who get involved with jihad have military members who get involved withjihad ideology. whether being a military officer, i suppose it will be information about him as an individual, the training he had, that sort of in? sure, the army will— had, that sort of in? sure, the army will come _ had, that sort of in? sure, the army will come through - had, that sort of in? sure, the army will come through that l had, that sort of in? sure, the | army will come through that as well and investigators. it also appears he spent some time in afghanistan and there is at least one report of someone saying his behaviour changed a lot after he returned, so... at this point and we might not ever know what could be his experience, having been abroad

and participating in the conflict, he could have influenced his views. this ideology could have been festering for many years, and just let you this outburst last night. just let you this outburst last niuht. , , ., , night. this is not the first time a vehicle _ night. this is not the first time a vehicle has - night. this is not the first time a vehicle has been l night. this is not the first. time a vehicle has been used with massive deaths, why do you think this is becoming a popular method of choice? it is eas and popular method of choice? it is easy and hard _ popular method of choice? it is easy and hard to _ popular method of choice? it 3 easy and hard to defend against, you do not need to do much more than a quiet vehicle, understand where people might cover, and evade any sort of physical obstacles. in many places, sensitive areas, they have put up these barriers but you cannot cover the entirety of the us and all the places that people gather in large groups. that is why we see so many of these attacks be successful. in germany they have tried to increase the

security around the christmas markets but there was another successful ramming attack in germany. it is a very tough issue for authorities to protect against. turning our attention — protect against. turning our attention to _ protect against. turning our attention to what _ protect against. turning our attention to what happened | protect against. turning our. attention to what happened in las vegas, we have also seen an explosion that of a cybertruck in front of a trump hotel, what is your first in front of a trump hotel, what is yourfirst impression in front of a trump hotel, what is your first impression of that? ~ ., �* ~ ., 1534 00:16:29,353 -