Drivers of Vegas blast, New Orleans attack used same car rental app

The Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in the Las Vegas Trump hotel, killing one, and the Ford pickup that rammed into a New Orleans crowd, killing at least 15 on New Year’s Day, were rented via the Turo app, the company confirmed recently.

The peer-to-peer car-sharing app said it is cooperating with the investigations. The company further mentioned that the drivers who rented the vehicles didn’t have criminal backgrounds, and the screening process didn’t raise any concerns.

According to Vegas officials, it’s a “coincidence” as the FBI has not found any connection between the two incidents. But both the incidents are being investigated as possible acts of terrorism.

Founded in 2009, the Turo app serves over 16,000 cities. Similar to Airbnb, it allows people to rent their cars to others. It was preparing for an IPO before these incidents.

According to Turo’s filing, around 3.5 million people booked a vehicle through it in the past year.

New details of the two incidents

According to the authorities:

• The driver of the Cybertruck has been identified as 37-year-old active-duty soldier Matthew Livelsberger, whom the police claim shot himself in the head before the explosion. Livelsberger was serving in Germany and was on leave during the incident. He was visiting family in Colorado, his father told CBS News.

• Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, a 42-year-old army veteran, carried out the truck attack in New Orleans. He also planted multiple improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in blue ice coolers on other streets, which the police have since located. The FBI believes he didn’t act alone since videos of him have been found claiming to have joined the ISIS terrorist group. The police fatally shot Jabbar in a firefight after the incident.