Watch: Las Vegas police say driver in Tesla Cybertruck explosion likely US soldier
The man who rented a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas was an active-duty US special forces soldier and shot himself dead before the blast, officials have said.
Las Vegas police have identified Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, as the man who rented the vehicle and drove it from Colorado to Las Vegas.
Officials said they were waiting to fully confirm with DNA evidence that the body in the truck was Mr Livelsberger’s.
The body in the vehicle was burnt beyond recognition and was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said on Thursday.
Seven people were injured when the vehicle – filled with fuel canisters and firework mortars – exploded on New Year’s Day. Officials said all injuries were minor.
The Cybertruck arrived in the city on Wednesday morning, less than two hours before the detonation, police have said. Parked in front of the hotel near a glass entrance, the vehicle started to smoke, then exploded.
Las Vegas authorities said the Cybertruck helped contain the explosion, sending it vertical rather than outward. The nearby glass doors and windows of the hotel did not shatter in the blast.
Authorities said they have yet to determine any motive behind the incident.
I’m comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately after, Sheriff McMahill said during Thursday’s press conference.
The sheriff said investigators recovered a military ID, a passport, two semi-automatic pistols, fireworks, an iPhone, a smart watch and several credit cards in Mr Livelsberger’s name from the charred vehicle.
Mr McMahill said they found two tattoos on the driver’s remains matching ones Livelsberger had.
The Colorado Springs native rented the Cybertruck on 28 December in Denver.
Police were able to track his movements using a number of photographs on the drive from Denver, Colorado to Las Vegas, Nevada. He was the only one seen driving the vehicle.
Mr McMahill said there are several parallels – but no definitive link – between the suspects in the incident in Las Vegas and a truck attack in New Orleans that left 14 dead, which both took place on New Year’s Day.
Both suspects served at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, though there is no record they served in same unit or were there at the same time. They also both served in Afghanistan in 2009, but there is no evidence they were in the same region or unit.
Both also used rental company Turo for the vehicles involved in the incidents, Mr McMahill said.
We don’t believe there’s any further threat from this subject or anybody associated to him here in Las Vegas, he said.
Mr Livelsberger had decades of experience with the US military, having served in both the Army and National Guard. He was a decorated Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant.
He was serving in Germany but on approved leave at the time of the incident.
Mr Livelsberger’s father told the BBC’s news partner CBS that his son was in Colorado to see his wife and eight-month-old daughter.
He said he last spoke to his son at Christmas and that everything seemed normal.
BBC NEWS
Man who died in Cybertruck explosion outside Las Vegas Trump hotel ID’d as Army special ops soldier
Authorities said Thursday that their investigation into an explosion that rattled the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas and killed one person had narrowed in on a decorated U.S. Army soldier, but that key details including a motive for the incident remained elusive.
At a news conference, officials said that identification belonging to the soldier, Matthew Alan Livelsberger, was found at the scene, where a Tesla Cybertruck burst into flames after an improvised explosive was detonated in the truck’s bed. Livelsberger had rented the Cybertruck through the online platform Turo.
Before the news conference, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News that it was Livelsberger who had died.
Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill acknowledged speculation on social media surrounding Livelsberger, 37, a master sergeant in the U.S. Army’s elite special forces unit and resident of Colorado Springs, but said there was no immediate indication that he was working as part of a larger operation.
“We don’t believe there’s any further threat or anyone associated with him in Las Vegas,” McMahill told reporters.
Authorities said a military ID, a passport and credit cards found at the scene were in Livelsberger’s name, but that the body in the Cybertruck was “burned beyond recognition.” Investigators are still awaiting DNA or medical record confirmation of the body’s identity, but had other evidence indicating Livelsberger had died, including tattoos on the body’s stomach and arms. Authorities also recovered two handguns, including a .50-caliber Desert Eagle and a semiautomatic pistol.
The body recovered from the Cybertruck sustained an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, McMahill said, adding that one of the weapons was found at the body’s feet.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the guns were traced back to Livelsberger, who lawfully purchased them on Dec. 30. ATF officials said they are still investigating the explosive device and sifting through debris, but the components appear to include consumer-grade fireworks, mortars and aerial shells.
The incident was being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, three senior law enforcement members said Wednesday.
Spencer Evans, a special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas field office, said Thursday that officials have been vetting tips, one of which was “alluding to this person’s experiences related to his time in the military.”
An Army spokesperson said Livelsberger was assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and on approved leave from his base in Germany. He first entered the Army in 2006, re-entered active duty in December 2012 and was a Green Beret candidate after serving in the National Guard and the Army Reserve.
Earlier Thursday, federal law enforcement agents began searching a residence in Colorado Springs connected with the case and were expected to be on-site for several hours, the agency said in a statement.
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