Noble Brigham/Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Tesla Cybertruck that exploded on Wednesday in Las Vegas was rented on Turo, the same car-sharing app used to rent the pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack early Wednesday.
In a statement on its website on Wednesday, Turo confirmed the vehicles involved in both incidents were rented through its service.
"Our trust and safety team is actively partnering with law enforcement authorities to share any information that could be helpful in their investigations," the statement read. "We do not believe that either renter had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat, and we are not currently aware of any information that indicates the two incidents are related."
Shamsud-Din Jabbar has been identified as the suspect in the deadly New Orleans attack. Jabbar's criminal record, obtained from the Texas Department of Public Safety and viewed by Business Insider, shows two prior arrests in 2002 and 2005.
The first was for theft, while the other was for driving with an invalid license. Both were classified as misdemeanors.
Turo lets private car owners rent out their vehicles. It's similar to Airbnb or Vrbo but for vehicles instead of homes.
The San Francisco-based company offers a wide range of cars, from Toyotas to Porsches and Teslas, and is active in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and France.
Investors include the venture arms of American Express, BMW, and Liberty Mutual, and top venture capital firms like Kleiner Perkins and Google Ventures. Celebrities like rapper 2 Chainz and NBA and NFL players have also invested.
Turo has close to 1,000 employees and was valued at $1.5 billion in 2020, per PitchBook. The company, which was founded in 2009, registered for an initial public offering in 2021 but has not yet gone public.
The company had 360,000 cars listed on its platform at the end of 2023, and about 3.7 million people booked cars that year, according to a March 2024 filing. In that filing, Turo said customers' actions that result in criminal activity could affect the company's reputation and create potential legal liabilities — a standard line in these documents.
The company wrote that it has no control over — or the ability to predict — the actions of car renters, who it calls guests.
"We cannot conclusively verify the identity of all guests, nor do we verify or screen third parties who may be present during a trip using a vehicle booked through our platform," per the March filing. "Our trust and safety processes focus primarily on guests to reduce the risk of vehicle theft and motor vehicle accidents."
The company reported nearly $880 million in revenue in 2023, an 18% year-over-year growth. It posted $14.7 million in profits, a sharp fall from $154.7 million in 2022. Losses and high costs are common for growing tech companies, especially those that are not yet public.
In a press conference Wednesday, President Joe Biden said authorities were investigating whether there was any connection between the Las Vegas explosion and the New Orleans attack.
Kevin McMahill, the Metropolitan Police Department sheriff, said at a press conference that the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck was killed and seven others injured after the vehicle exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
"We're very well aware of what has happened in New Orleans with the event that occurred there, and the number of victims there and the additional IEDs," McMahill said, referring to the attack in New Orleans that killed 15 on Wednesday morning. "So, as you can imagine, with an explosion here on iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking all of the precautions that we need to take to keep our community safe."
Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on X that the explosion was "caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb" in the bed of the Cybertruck.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
