Investigators look into whether New Orleans attacker acted alone

A day after at least 15 people were killed and dozens injured in an attack in New Orleans, a key question confronting investigators Thursday was whether the man who rammed a pickup truck into a crowd had accomplices.

The authorities have said they are looking into the possibility that the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Army veteran, may not have acted alone. Police said Jabbar died in a shootout with officers after he drove the truck into revelers on Bourbon Street in the city's French Quarter in the early hours of New Year's Day.

After the attack, devices that could be homemade bombs were found in and near the pickup truck and elsewhere in the French Quarter, raising investigators' suspicions that he had coconspirators.

President Joe Biden said the attack had been "inspired by" the Islamic State group. Jabbar "pledged allegiance to ISIS," as the group is also known, in videos posted to social media in which he appeared to be driving, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The authorities have not ruled out a connection between the Bourbon Street attack and the detonation of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas hours later that left its driver dead and at least seven other people injured. Both trucks had been rented through Turo, a peer-to-peer rental app, the company said. But Las Vegas police have said there is no indication that the explosion there was connected to the Islamic State, and that the investigation was continuing.

Here's what else to know:

The attack: Jabbar drove the truck at a high speed into crowds around 3:15 a.m. before crashing and exchanging fire with three police officers, said Anne Kirkpatrick, the New Orleans Police superintendent. Two officers were injured in the gunfight and were hospitalized, she said.

The suspect: Jabbar served almost eight years in the Army, including a deployment to Afghanistan, and was honorably discharged. He had converted to Islam and had recently started behaving erratically, according to his ex-wife's husband. An Islamic State flag, weapons and a potential explosive device were found in the truck that officials say he used in the attack.

Security questions: Officials said security bollards along a section of Bourbon Street had been removed for repairs in preparation for the Super Bowl. Patrol cars and barriers had been set up to block access, but the attacker drove around them, Kirkpatrick said.

Bowl game rescheduled: The Sugar Bowl College Football Playoff game in New Orleans was postponed from Wednesday and scheduled to go ahead Thursday afternoon.