(Photo by WADE VANDERVORT / AFP) (Photo by WADE VANDERVORT/AFP via Getty Images)
Early New Year’s Day, a Cybertruck exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel. A suspect inside the Tesla vehicle died, and seven people nearby suffered minor injuries. On Thursday (January 2), local officials revealed that the man found inside the burned vehicle was a U.S. Army soldier named Matthew Livelsberger.
According to the Associated Press, the 37-year-old shot himself in the head before the detonation. An identification and a passport for Matthew were found in the Cybertruck.
Editor’s Note: This article was published on January 2 and updated on January 4 with additional information and photos about the explosion and the man found inside the Cybertruck. Keep scrolling for updates.
According to the Associated Press, investigators discovered firework mortars and camp fuel canisters stuffed into the back of the Cybertruck. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Clark County Fire Department officials confirmed the number of people who passed and who were injured. By Thursday, authorities had already identified Matthew Livelsberger as the person who rented the Cybertruck using the Turo app in Colorado and the person inside the charred truck.
Turo, on Wednesday, said it was working with authorities but claimed that Matthew “did not have a criminal background that would have identified [him] as a security threat.” They said the same thing about the New Orleans incident, where a former U.S. soldier plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day.
Video presented at a conference earlier this week showed a tumble of charred fireworks mortars, cannisters, and other explosive devices crowded into the back of the Cybertruck. The truck bed walls were still intact, though. Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said the
damage from the blast was mostly limited to the interior of the truck because the explosion “vented out and up.” So, ultimately, the explosion didnt hit the Trump hotel doors just a few feet away.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk assisted with the investigation by sharing videos captured at company charging stations. Sheriff McMahill said the footage helped authorities track the vehicle’s journey, including charging stops in Colorado towns, Monument, Trinidad, three towns in Arizona, and three towns in New Mexico. It finallyarrived in Las Vegas at about 7:30 a.m. on January 1. An hour later, Matthew Livelsberger drove the Cybertruck into the valet area of the Trump International Hotel. It sat there for 15 to 20 seconds before the explosives detonated.
Musk clarified on Wednesday afternoon that the explosion wasn’t due to any Cybertruck malfunctions. Earlier in the day, he had assured his supporters that his senior team was investigating and that the company had “never seen anything like this.”
Authorities are still working to determine a motive. However, the location of the explosion and the type of vehicle used are part of the investigation.
For context, Musk has recently become a member of Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk were in Las Vegas at his hotel early Wednesday. Both had attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at Trump’s estate in South Florida. Musk spent an estimated $250 million during the presidential campaign to support the former president. He was at Trump’s resort on election night and has been a frequent guest there. Trump has named Musk, the world’s richest man, to co-lead a new effort to find ways to cut the government’s size and spending.
“Its not lost on us that its in front of the Trump building, that its a Tesla vehicle, but we dont have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology,” said Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBIs special agent in charge.
Matthew Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners. He had served in the Army since 2006. He rose through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments. Matt deployed twice to Afghanistan and served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia, and Congo. He had recently returned from an overseas assignment in Germany. He was on approved leave when he died, according to a U.S. official.
An anonymous law enforcement official told AP that investigators learned through interviews that Matthew may have gotten into a fight with his wife about relationship issues. That reportedly happened shortly before he rented the Tesla and bought the guns.
Among the burned items police found inside the truck were a handgun at Livelsberger’s feet, another firearm, a number of fireworks, a pssport, a military ID, credit cards, an iPhone, and a smartwatch. The sheriff confirmed Matthew purchased both guns legally.
At this time, Sheriff McMahill said they’re not aware of anyone else’s involvement in the case.
Associated Press writers Tara Copp, Alanna Durkin Richer, Ty O’Neil, Anita Snow, Colleen Long, Zeke Miller, and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
