An elite soldier identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger committed suicide before the Cybertruck he was sitting in exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, authorities said on Thursday.
The motive for his actions is still unknown.
Guns found
Livelsberger rented the vehicle in Colorado on December 28, from where authorities tracked him driving it alone through Arizona and New Mexico to Las Vegas, which he reached on January 1, Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said.
McMahill said Livelsberger was a Green Beret who had spent time in Germany and had been deployed to Afghanistan in 2009.
An army spokesperson said that Livelsberger was "on approved leave at the time of his death," and that he had been awarded multiple Bronze Star Medals, including one for valor.
Investigators said it was not yet clear how the blast detonated, but that the components were mainly consumer products like fireworks and fuel.
But they also said some of the components had not exploded, and that the level of sophistication in the blast was not what they would expect from someone with Livelsberger's military background.
"I just don't think it was done as well as he was expecting it to be done," McMahill said.
Authorities also confirmed that Livelsberger had purchased two semi-automatic handguns, both of which were found in the Tesla, one at his feet.
'Isolated' incident
The blast came 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 said Thursday they believe the attacker there acted alone, while the FBI described the Vegas incident as "isolated."
McMahill said Wednesday 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," noting 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 carsharing company Turo, police said -- the same app that was used to rent the vehicle in the New Orleans attack.
McMahill said Wednesday that was a "coincidence... SYNCHRONICITY that we have to continue to look in to."
(AFP)
APPARENTLY NOT AN EXPLOSIVES SPECIALIST
Issued on: 02/01/2025 -
FRANCE24
By: NEWS WIRES
Video by: Liza KAMINOV
Issued on: 02/01/2025 -
FRANCE24
By: NEWS WIRES
Video by: Liza KAMINOV
01:44
Emergency vehicles line the road near the Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of the entrance on January 1, 2025. © Ethan Miller, Getty Images via 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 said the suspect -- identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger -- was 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 a gun was found at his feet, officials told reporters at a press conference in Las Vegas.
"The motivation at this point is unknown," FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans said, as investigators probed the incident as a potential act of "terror."
Video footage outside the Trump International Hotel shows the stainless steel truck parked at the building's glass entrance early Wednesday, then bursting into flames, followed by smaller explosions that appeared similar to fireworks.
Seven people were wounded in the blast.
The Trump-branded building, which opened in 2008, is part-owned by the Republican president-elect's family business.
Evans said the link to the president-elect was "not lost" on agents, nor was the fact that Tesla is owned by world's richest man -- and prominent Trump backer -- Elon Musk.
"But we don't have information at this point that definitively tells us" it was driven by any particular ideology, he said.
Officials said the body had been burned beyond recognition, but that they have a "lot of confidence" it was Livelsberger -- identified through his military ID, passport and credit cards.
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 said the suspect -- identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger -- was 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 a gun was found at his feet, officials told reporters at a press conference in Las Vegas.
"The motivation at this point is unknown," FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans said, as investigators probed the incident as a potential act of "terror."
Video footage outside the Trump International Hotel shows the stainless steel truck parked at the building's glass entrance early Wednesday, then bursting into flames, followed by smaller explosions that appeared similar to fireworks.
Seven people were wounded in the blast.
The Trump-branded building, which opened in 2008, is part-owned by the Republican president-elect's family business.
Evans said the link to the president-elect was "not lost" on agents, nor was the fact that Tesla is owned by world's richest man -- and prominent Trump backer -- Elon Musk.
"But we don't have information at this point that definitively tells us" it was driven by any particular ideology, he said.
Officials said the body had been burned beyond recognition, but that they have a "lot of confidence" it was Livelsberger -- identified through his military ID, passport and credit cards.
Guns found
Livelsberger rented the vehicle in Colorado on December 28, from where authorities tracked him driving it alone through Arizona and New Mexico to Las Vegas, which he reached on January 1, Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said.
McMahill said Livelsberger was a Green Beret who had spent time in Germany and had been deployed to Afghanistan in 2009.
An army spokesperson said that Livelsberger was "on approved leave at the time of his death," and that he had been awarded multiple Bronze Star Medals, including one for valor.
Investigators said it was not yet clear how the blast detonated, but that the components were mainly consumer products like fireworks and fuel.
But they also said some of the components had not exploded, and that the level of sophistication in the blast was not what they would expect from someone with Livelsberger's military background.
"I just don't think it was done as well as he was expecting it to be done," McMahill said.
Authorities also confirmed that Livelsberger had purchased two semi-automatic handguns, both of which were found in the Tesla, one at his feet.
'Isolated' incident
The blast came 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 said Thursday they believe the attacker there acted alone, while the FBI described the Vegas incident as "isolated."
McMahill said Wednesday 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," noting 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 carsharing company Turo, police said -- the same app that was used to rent the vehicle in the New Orleans attack.
McMahill said Wednesday that was a "coincidence... SYNCHRONICITY that we have to continue to look in to."
(AFP)
Accused Cybertruck bomber penned anti-government manifesto and possibly had PTSD: report
Matthew Chapman
January 3, 2025
RW STORY
Matthew Livelsberger, 37, an active-duty Army soldier from Colorado Springs and who police identified as the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, poses in an undated handout photograph obtained by Reuters on January 2, 2025. Las Vegas Metro Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
The man accused of perpetrating the Cybertruck bombing at Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas wrote a manifesto critical of the government — and may have had untreated mental health issues from his time in the Special Forces, reported NBC News.
Matthew Livelsberger, who was found dead with a gunshot wound in the burned-out remains of the pickup, was a Green Beret who lived in Colorado Springs. Previous reporting indicated his family described him as a "Rambo-type" person and an avid Trump supporter.
Clark County Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said investigators accessed "one of two phones found in the Cybertruck and viewed writing in an app that served almost as a journal, documenting some of ... Livelsberger's movements and state of mind from Dec. 21 to New Year's Eve," the report continued. "Two letters in the phone app appear to point to a motive in the blast, Koren said. In one, he tells 'fellow service members, veterans and all Americans' it's time to 'wake up' because the country's leadership is 'weak' and 'only serves to enrich themselves.'"
Livelsberger's writings indicated he had no animosity for Trump, and didn't view his actions as terrorism.
"We are the United States of America, the best country ... to ever exist, but right now, we are terminally ill and headed towards collapse," said the letter. "This was not a terrorist attack. It was a wake up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives....I need to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost, and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took."
Authorities further stated that Livelsberger likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and had "family issues or personal grievances in his own life that may have been contributing factors."
Earlier in the investigation, police were investigating whether this explosion, which left seven other people injured, had any connection to the vehicle-ramming attack in New Orleans that killed 15 and appeared to have been inspired by ISIS. But authorities appear to have ruled this out; the perpetrator of this attack was stationed at the same military base as Livelsberger and the two rented their vehicles from the same service, but these appear to be coincidences.
Matthew Chapman
January 3, 2025
RW STORY
Matthew Livelsberger, 37, an active-duty Army soldier from Colorado Springs and who police identified as the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, poses in an undated handout photograph obtained by Reuters on January 2, 2025. Las Vegas Metro Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
The man accused of perpetrating the Cybertruck bombing at Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas wrote a manifesto critical of the government — and may have had untreated mental health issues from his time in the Special Forces, reported NBC News.
Matthew Livelsberger, who was found dead with a gunshot wound in the burned-out remains of the pickup, was a Green Beret who lived in Colorado Springs. Previous reporting indicated his family described him as a "Rambo-type" person and an avid Trump supporter.
Clark County Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said investigators accessed "one of two phones found in the Cybertruck and viewed writing in an app that served almost as a journal, documenting some of ... Livelsberger's movements and state of mind from Dec. 21 to New Year's Eve," the report continued. "Two letters in the phone app appear to point to a motive in the blast, Koren said. In one, he tells 'fellow service members, veterans and all Americans' it's time to 'wake up' because the country's leadership is 'weak' and 'only serves to enrich themselves.'"
Livelsberger's writings indicated he had no animosity for Trump, and didn't view his actions as terrorism.
"We are the United States of America, the best country ... to ever exist, but right now, we are terminally ill and headed towards collapse," said the letter. "This was not a terrorist attack. It was a wake up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives....I need to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost, and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took."
Authorities further stated that Livelsberger likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and had "family issues or personal grievances in his own life that may have been contributing factors."
Earlier in the investigation, police were investigating whether this explosion, which left seven other people injured, had any connection to the vehicle-ramming attack in New Orleans that killed 15 and appeared to have been inspired by ISIS. But authorities appear to have ruled this out; the perpetrator of this attack was stationed at the same military base as Livelsberger and the two rented their vehicles from the same service, but these appear to be coincidences.
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