This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service.
We're coming to you live from London.
I'm James Menendez.
And we are going to start in New Orleans as the city and the US More broadly tries to piece together what happened in the early hours of New Year's Day, both the impact on those caught up in the attack.
Fifteen people are now known to have lost their lives, a a college football player, an aspiring nurse and a young mother among them.
And also why it happened.
What led to US army veteran Shamsuddin Jabbar driving into a crowded street of revellers and then opening fire?
Was he acting alone?
And furthermore, was there a link to an explosion yesterday of a Tesla cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas?
It is early days in the investigations, and for many, the grief and shock are still raw.
Speaking to the BBC, JP Morrell, vice president of the New Orleans City Council, described the mood the public, our citizens, they're devastated.
I mean, we are a city renowned for our fun festival and culture and New Orleans parties like no other.
And to wake up on New Year's Day right before the nationally televised playoff game for our for our college football series to this has really just been jarring and shocking.
And people in our city are still coming to grips that this happened to us in this way.
Some details about the suspect have emerged.
This YouTube video from 2020 shows Shamsuddin Jabbar introducing himself as a real estate agent in Texas.
Good evening.
I'm Shamsuddin Jabbar, property manager with bluemeadow Properties and team lead at the Midas Group at Core Realty.
I just want to say hello and let you know a little bit about me.
So I'm born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, and now live in Houston.