Biden: Investigators Checking For Links Between New Orleans Attack, Las Vegas Tesla Explosion

President Joe Biden said Thursday that ongoing investigations into a deadly New Year's Day attack in New Orleans are "fluid," and that law enforcement is probing whether the French Quarter massacre was related at all to the explosion of a Tesla truck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel.

No such connection has yet been uncovered, the president said. Biden pledged to keep Americans updated "contemporaneously" as the investigation progresses.

The suspect identified by the FBI in the New Orleans attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, rammed into a crowd of Bourbon Street pedestrians driving a Ford pickup truck, killing 15 people and injuring more than 30 victims.

Biden issued a statement Wednesday morning announcing that the FBI is leading the investigation and examining the incident as a terrorist attack.

In a statement, the FBI said that Jabbar had an Islamic State flag, weapons and an improvised explosive device in his vehicle. Officials are working to determine how the suspect obtained the vehicle, which appears to be rented, and if the suspect is associated with terrorist organizations. According to the FBI, potential IEDs were found elsewhere in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

The Pentagon confirmed that Jabbar, who was killed in a shootout with New Orleans police, was in the Army as a human resource and information technology specialist from March 2007 until Jan. 2015, after which he became an IT specialist in the Army Reserve in 2015 for five years. Jabbar was deployed to Afghanistan from Feb. 2009 to Jan. 2010, and left the military as a staff sergeant.

Biden said the FBI reported to him that hours before the attack, the suspect posted videos on social media that he was inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group with the desire to kill.

According to the president, the FBI is actively looking for connections and anyone who may have been involved in the attack. Biden said Wednesday evening that he had no additional information to report.

“Law enforcement, the intelligence community are investigating this as well, including whether there is any possible connection to the attack in New Orleans,” the president said of the truck explosion outside Trump's Las Vegas hotel. “I directed my team to make sure every resource is made available to the federal, state, and local law enforcement, to complete the investigation in New Orleans quickly, and make sure there's no remaining threat to the American people.”

During the press conference, Biden said the driver was an American citizen born in Texas, refuting Trump’s suggestion earlier Wednesday that the attack was related to “criminals coming in” to the U.S.

“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Biden concluded saying New Orleans is a city with a rich culture that brings people together from around the world, and it will "never be defeated."

"New Orleans is a place unlike any other place in the world, a city full of charm and joy. So many people around the world love New Orleans because of its history, its culture and above all its people," Biden said. "The spirit of New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated."