Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion: Officials identify suspect as Army Special Operations Soldier

Cybertruck explosion
Cybertruck explosion A Tesla Cybertruck is shown after it caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel, on January 1, 2025, in Las Vegas.(Photo by WADE VANDERVORT / AFP) (Photo by WADE VANDERVORT/AFP via Getty Images) (WADE VANDERVORT/AFP via Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — A Telsa Cybertruck packed with firework mortars and fuel canisters exploded outside of President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

The man inside of the truck was killed and seven others nearby were hurt, The New York Times reported. The man who drove the Cybertruck was identified as an active duty member of the U.S. Army, officials told The Associated Press. Two law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the man’s name was Matthew Livelsberger.

New details about the person found in the Cybertruck

Update 2:06 p.m. Jan. 2: Sheriff Kevin McMahill with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police has released new information into the investigation.

McMahill believes Livelsberger was the man who was killed in the explosion. The sheriff said that the remains were burned beyond recognition and the identification wouldn’t be official until confirmed by the coroner. Credit cards, military ID and tattoos were all linked to Livelsberger, McMahill said.

McMahill said the man died of a gunshot wound to the head before the explosion. He said that they believed the gunshot was self-inflicted. The gun was found at the man’s feet, the AP reported.

The AP reported that Livelsberger had served in the Green Berets and had been with the Army since 2006, serving several times overseas including two deployments to Afghanistan, along with serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo. He was a master sergeant, The New York Times reported. He had two Bronze Stars and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. Both he and the man who the FBI said plowed into a crowd in New Orleans served at one point at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, now Fort Liberty, but there was no overlap in timing that they were there, the AP reported.

Livelsberger was on active duty in Germany on leave with the 10th Special Forces Group, CNN reported.

Kenny Cooper, Special Agent In Charge from the ATF, said two firearms were found in the Cybertruck and that they were purchased on Monday by Livelsberger.

A motive has not been determined according to Spencer Evans, FBI Special Agent in Charge.

Original report: Livelsberger had been at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. It is home to the Army’s special forces command. Fort Bragg is now known as Fort Liberty.

A reporter with WTOP said the Army confirmed that Livelsberger was part of the active duty Army starting December 2012 and was an Army Special Operations Soldier, assigned to the Special Operations Command. He was on approved leave at the time of the explosion.

The Tesla was rented in Colorado via the Turo app and officials could track the truck’s movement through videos recorded at charging stations, CNN reported.

Turo officials said that neither driver “had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat.”

The Cybertruck had gas canisters, camp fuel canisters and firework mortars, but it is not known how they were detonated, Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said.

Police said the driver pulled to the last entrance of the hotel before the blast.

Despite the similarities between the explosion in Las Vegas and the terror attack in New Orleans including both trucks being rented through Turo and that both were connected to the military, officials said they believe the Las Vegas incident was isolated, but hadn’t fully ruled out a connection, the Times reported.

They also do not know if the Las Vegas incident was connected to Trump and Elon Musk, who is serving as an advisor to the president-elect, CNN reported.

“It’s a Tesla truck, and we know that Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump, and it’s the Trump tower,” McMahill said, according to CNN. “So, there’s obviously things to be concerned about there, and that’s something we continue to look at.”

Police are crediting the Cybertruck’s design for lessening the damage and injuries.

“The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside of the valet because it had most of the blast. Up through the truck and out,” McMahill said. “You’ll see that the front glass doors at the Trump hotel were not even broken by that blast which they were parked directly in front of.”

“I have to thank Elon Musk specifically,” McMahill said after Musk gave the department “quite a bit of additional information,” including providing the video that helped track the truck.


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