(AFP) – The decorated special forces soldier who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas shot himself in the head before the blast, authorities said Thursday, adding that his motivation was still “unknown.” Authorities identified the suspect as Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a member of the elite Green Beret forces, who appeared to have committed suicide in a Cybertruck filled with fuel containers and fireworks, which then erupted into flames. He had a gunshot wound to the head, and officials reported that a gun was found at his feet during a press conference in Las Vegas.
“The motivation at this point is unknown,” FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans stated, as investigators probed the incident as a potential act of “terror.” Video footage outside the Trump International Hotel captured the stainless steel truck parked at the building’s glass entrance early Wednesday, before it burst into flames, followed by smaller explosions resembling fireworks. Seven people were reported wounded in the blast. The Trump-branded building, which opened in 2008, is part-owned by the Republican president-elect’s family business. Evans noted that the link to the president-elect was “not lost” on agents, nor was the fact that Tesla is owned by the world’s richest man and prominent Trump backer, Elon Musk. However, he cautioned, “But we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us” it was driven by any particular ideology.
Officials reported that Livelsberger’s body had been burned beyond recognition; however, they expressed “a lot of confidence” it was him, identified through military ID, passport, and credit cards. Livelsberger had rented the vehicle in Colorado on December 28, and authorities tracked him driving it alone through Arizona and New Mexico before arriving in Las Vegas on January 1, according to Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill. Livelsberger was a Green Beret who had spent time in Germany and had been deployed to Afghanistan in 2009. An army spokesperson stated that Livelsberger was “on approved leave at the time of his death” and had received multiple Bronze Star Medals, including one for valor.
Investigators noted that it was not yet clear how the blast detonated, but that the components primarily consisted of consumer products like fireworks and fuel. Some components had not exploded, and authorities indicated that the level of sophistication in the blast was not what they would expect from someone with Livelsberger’s military background. McMahill remarked, “I just don’t think it was done as well as he was expecting it to be done.” Authorities confirmed that Livelsberger had purchased two semi-automatic handguns, both of which were found in the Tesla, one at his feet.
The blast occurred just hours after an electric pickup truck plowed into a crowd in New Orleans’ French Quarter, killing at least 14 and injuring dozens. Initially, investigators were probing any potential link between the two incidents, but authorities in New Orleans reported on Thursday that they believe the attacker there acted alone. The FBI described the Vegas incident as “isolated.” McMahill noted that the fact that it was a Cybertruck “really limited the damage… because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out,” emphasizing that the glass doors of the hotel, just a few feet away, “were not even broken by that blast.” The truck had been rented in Colorado through the car-sharing company Turo, police confirmed—the same app used to rent the vehicle in the New Orleans attack. McMahill remarked that this was a “coincidence… that we have to continue to look into.”
– Wade Vandervort
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