Men behind New Orleans attack, Las Vegas explosion both served at Fort Liberty in NC
The attacker who ran down 15 people on Bourbon Street New Year’s Eve and the man whose rented Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas both served as soldiers at Fort Liberty in North Carolina, military authorities confirm.
Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, the former 82nd Airborne soldier now being investigated for acts of terrorism in New Orleans, lived in Cumberland County near the Army post then named Fort Bragg between roughly 2010 and 2015, his records show. Military authorities have noted that he served in Afghanistan in a non-combat role.
The 82nd Airborne Division posted a photo of Jabbar on its Facebook page in 2013, picturing him working in the automations shop and listing him with as the information technology team chief for the division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team.
The FBI has said it knows of no connection between the New Orleans truck attack early Wednesday, in which Jabbar died in a shootout with police, and the explosion in Las Vegas that followed later that day. There is no evidence suggesting Jabbar was acquainted with Matthew Livelsberger, the 37-year-old Green Beret authorities believe died in the truck explosion.
Livelsberger was serving on active duty with the U.S. Army and had been trained as a Green Beret, according to his LinkedIn profile. Nearly all Green Beret training happens at Fort Liberty, the Army post bordering Fayetteville, formerly known as Fort Bragg. The Army confirmed his status to the Associated Press on Thursday.
Livelsberger’s wife posted numerous pictures of the two of them and listed their residence as Fayetteville in 2013, meaning he would have been at the post at the same time as Jabbar. As one of the largest military bases in the world, Fort Liberty has roughly 60,000 military personnel at any time.
In 2015, Jabbar pleaded guilty to driving while impaired while at Fort Liberty. He received a sentence of 12 months probation and had a charge of carrying an open container of alcohol dropped in exchange for his guilty plea. He also performed community service and had a substance abuse assessment as part of his sentence, common for DUI cases.
While in Cumberland County, Jabbar filed for divorce from his then-wife, which was granted, and registered to vote with no party affiliation. His ex-wife could not be reached at a number listed in Texas Thursday.
Livelsberger has no criminal or other court record in North Carolina.
The death toll from the truck attack in New Orleans has risen to 15 with dozens more injured.
One Raleigh man in New Orleans for the holiday, Brice Harris, told the N&O’s media partner ABC 11 that he narrowly missed being on the scene.
“We very likely would have been there if we didn’t have some friends convince us to go to another show, another half a mile down the street,” he said.
This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 11:30 AM.