Officials said Thursday that the person killed when a Tesla Cybertruck packed with explosives exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel was an active-duty U.S. Army soldier.
Two law enforcement officers identified the man in the futuristic pickup truck as Matthew Livelsberger. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Livelsberger was a member of the elite Green Berets, a special forces unit and experts in guerrilla warfare, according to an Army statement. The statement said he had served in the military since 2006, rising through the ranks, and was on approved leave at the time of his death. Green Berets fight terrorists abroad using unconventional techniques.
Livelsberger spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive military base in North Carolina that is home to Special Operations Command.
Authorities said one person was killed and seven others injured Wednesday when a Tesla Cybertruck that appeared to be carrying fireworks caught fire and exploded at the Trump hotel in Las Vegas.
In a post on X on Thursday, the FBI said it was “conducting a law enforcement response” to a home in Colorado Springs, Colo., in connection with Wednesday's explosion, but provided no other details.
The explosion of a truck filled with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters came hours after Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, drove his truck into a crowd in New Orleans' famous French Quarter early on New Year's Day, killing at least 14 people. shot by the police.
The crash was being investigated as a terrorist attack and police believe the driver acted alone.
Jabbar, a U.S. Army veteran, also spent time at Fort Bragg, now called Fort Liberty, but one official said their assignments there do not overlap so far.
So far, the investigation has not found that the incidents in Las Vegas and New Orleans are related, and authorities believe the men did not know each other, two law enforcement officials said.
Seven people nearby suffered minor injuries when the Tesla truck exploded.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk told X on Wednesday afternoon that “we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried on the floor of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.”
“At the time of the explosion, all vehicle telemetry was positive,” Musk wrote.
Authorities know who rented a truck with the Turo app in Colorado, Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Wednesday.