What is the Turo app, emerging as a link in New Orleans and Las Vegas attacks?
Turo app: With investigations still underway, the peer-to-peer platform has emerged as a link between the New Orleans and Las Vegas attacks on New Year's Day.
Turo app, a central link between two New Year tragedies: a “coincidence,” or something more?
2025 started off on a tragic note in the US with deadly attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, sending shockwaves across the world. Although the preliminary investigations of both cases suggested that they were not connected, some shocking links between the two have indeed come to light, compelling authorities to reconsider their stance. The FBI is probing both cases as potential acts of terror. Suspects in each case - Shamsud Din Jabbar for the Bourbon Street horror that left 15 dead, and Matthew Livelsberger as the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside Donald Trump’s hotel - are US Army veterans.
Both men named as suspects in the New Year’s Day incidents are dead. On top of that, they are believed to have rented the respective vehicles at the centre of these cases via the same app, Turo.
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What is Turo?
According to its website, Turo is a car rental marketplace that allows interested parties to “rent anything from daily drivers to pickup trucks, from trusted, local hosts.” The car-sharing process facilitated by the rental app proceeds in such a way that it doesn’t demand in-person meetings between the “hosts” and “guests.” According to Newsweek, the San Francisco-based company was founded in 2010. As an alternative to traditional car rental services, the platform operates in the US, Canada, Australia and France.
The company’s vice president of communications, Steve Webb, disclosed that they are fully cooperating with the investigations. As of now, they are not “aware of anything in this guest’s background that would have identified him as a trust and safety threat,” he said of the New Orleans attack. A Ford pickup truck is in the spotlight since 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar allegedly rented the vehicle, ramming through gatherings of New Year revellers on Bourbon Street. The incident killed 15 people and injured dozens of others. Jabbar was ultimately fatally shot after he opened fire on two cops at the scene, who sustained injuries after the firefight.
On the flip side, Matthew Livelsberger, aka the Las Vegas explosion suspect, was behind the wheel of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sammy Davis Jr Drive. The silver Cybertruck was also allegedly rented through the same carsharing company.
Officials respond
“We are heartbroken to learn that one of our host’s vehicles was involved in this awful incident. We are actively partnering with the FBI. We are not currently aware of anything in this guest’s background that would have identified him as a trust and safety threat to us at the time of the reservation,” a Turo spokesperson told News Nation.
According to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin Mc Mahill, authorities deemed the two attacks as isolated incidents. At the moment, they’ve called the app’s involvement in both cases as a “coincidence.”
Described as the “world’s largest car sharing marketplace,” Turo allows a person to book a vehicle as long as they provide a driver’s licence, are above 18 years of age and provide personal information for approval.
The app details, ““Entrepreneurs can take the wheel of their futures by becoming hosts and building car sharing businesses on Turo, leveraging an established platform to scale their businesses and meet their goals. With Turo, everyone has the power to get in the driver’s seat.”
