Investigation into Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas shows driver shot himself before the blast, officials say
Authorities investigating the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day said Thursday that evidence shows the driver shot himself in the head before the explosion.
Police also identified Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active duty member of the Army Special Forces, as the driver of the Cybertruck. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the county coroner had determined he died by suicide.
The Cybertruck had been rented in Denver by Livelsberger, the police department's Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a briefing earlier Thursday.
Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the FBI's office in Las Vegas, said during the briefing that authorities weren't tracking any additional subjects in the investigation.
Livelsberger was the only person in the vehicle when it went up in flames. He is also the only person known by police to have been inside the 2024 model Cybertruck since it was rented, according to the sheriff. The condition of the body prevented law enforcement from making a definitive identification until they received dental records and DNA test results.
"His body is burnt beyond recognition," McMahill said. Investigators said Livelsberger's military ID, passport and credit cards were found in the vehicle, along with several firearms.
"Further complicating this identification of this individual, we also discovered through the coroner's office that the individual had sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle," the sheriff continued. McMahill said one of the handguns discovered inside the vehicle after it exploded was found at the driver's feet.
The explosion early Wednesday morning is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism, according to law enforcement, but investigators do not believe there are any lingering threats to the community, FBI agent Jeremy Schwartz said at a news conference Wednesday evening.
Seven others suffered minor injuries from the explosion.
Law enforcement sources said Livelsberger was stationed in Germany but was on leave in Colorado when the blast occurred. Two of Livelsberger's relatives told CBS News they were unaware of his involvement in the incident but confirmed he had rented a Cybertruck. One relative said his wife had not heard from him in several days.
Federal agents probing the explosion have been at Livelsberger's townhome in Colorado Springs since Wednesday night, CBS Colorado reported. No one has been evacuated during the investigation there.
The Cybertruck was rented in Colorado, McMahill said. Investigators were able to trace its route from Denver to Las Vegas based on its stops at charging stations, and surveillance video shows the vehicle driving through the Las Vegas Strip shortly before the blast.
The Cybertruck pulled up to the glass entrance of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas a little after 7:30 a.m., and exploded about 15 seconds later.
The sheriff told reporters that gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars were discovered in the back of the truck, although it was unclear exactly how the explosives were ignited.
McMahill called the explosion "an isolated incident" and said there was no indication it was connected to ISIS. The blast came just hours after a man intentionally drove a pickup truck flying a black ISIS flag into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 14 people before he was fatally shot by police.
The Las Vegas sheriff reiterated Thursday that the two incidents were unrelated, although he acknowledged some similarities between the cases and subjects. The drivers in both the Cybertruck explosion and the New Orleans rampage had rented their respective vehicles using the company Turo, and both were members of the U.S. military. Each served in Afghanistan in 2009 and at some point were stationed at the military base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Authorities are still investigating, but McMahill said there was no evidence indicating the men served in the same units or locations in Afghanistan, or served at Fort Bragg during the same years.
