While authorities continue to investigate two acts of violence that involved the use of Turo, the app's CEO said the company is looking "inward" at their "trust and safety practices."
Chief executive officer Andre Haddad said in a statement sent to International Business Times that he's "shocked, saddened" and" simply heartbroken" over the New Year's Day attacks that took place in New Orleans, and inside a Tesla Cybertruck parked outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
Haddad talked about "partnering with law enforcement" and "working" with officials to determine how Turo can be "misused by perpetrators of such atrocities."
Haddad said the perpetrators of both "heinous crimes" had "valid driver's licenses, clean criminal backgrounds, and were decorated U.S. military servicemembers" making them eligible to utilize the ride sharing app.
"They could have boarded any plane, checked into any hotel, or rented a car or truck from any traditional vehicle rental chain," Haddad said. "We do not believe these two individuals would have been flagged by anyone – including law enforcement."
Haddad said Turo is "consulting with national security and counterterrorism experts" to "prevent anything like this from happening ever again."
U.S. Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who plowed a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, was inspired by ISIS, according to the FBI, who found an ISIS flag in his truck.
Haddad asserted that every Turo renter is thoroughly "screened through a proprietary multi-layer, data-science-based trust and safety algorithm, the Turo Risk Score."
The Turo Risk Score is determined by over 50 internal and external data sources, Haddad said.
Aside from Turo's data set and algorithm, Turo has "an experienced team of former law enforcement professionals in our Trust and Safety organization."
"2025 is off to an awful start," Haddad said. "While I mourn today, I also remain committed to pioneering and sustaining a strong, secure, trustworthy marketplace for tomorrow."
Originally published on IBTimes
