LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill holds a press conference on January 1, 2025, following the Tesla Cybertruck explosion. McMahill thanks Elon Musk for helping quickly enforce the law.
Law enforcement officials turned to technology in their investigation into the explosion of a Tesla CyberTruck truck loaded with fireworks and explosives. Trump International Hotel Wednesday in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a press conference on the day of the explosion Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla The investigation was aided by videos taken at Tesla charging stations as well as the city's license plate reader (LPR) system.
“I have to thank Elon Musk. In particular, he gave us more information about how the vehicle was locked after the explosion due to the nature of the force from the explosion, as well as being able to capture everything,” McMill explained. Nationwide and he shipped it directly to us so I appreciate his help with that.
“The first indication of that vehicle coming in here in Las Vegas was from a license plate reader, so the technology has been very helpful for us to solve that problem,” he added.
A Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, killing the driver and injuring seven others. (Cashm Press News / Shutterstock / Shutterstock)
Retired NYPD Inspector Paul Mauro told FOX Business in an interview that LPRs “have grown to the point where most cities, if not all, have license plate readers scattered across the city for various reasons.”
With Musk present, with a prosecutor actually writing the expedited orders that you need, with the emergency exception of trying to figure out if there's been another terrorist attack here, if they're connected, you've got all this information. You will gain a lot. He explained, very quickly.
Between that and the LPRs these days, you should be able to put together a pretty accurate and complete travel itinerary on this guy, and I'm sure that's something they're working on now, and I'm sure probably most of it. have obtained Now, Mauro said.
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Video captured by cameras at Tesla charging stations has been released to law enforcement officials investigating the explosion. (Jeff Gretchen/News Media Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images/Getty Images)
McMahill said at a news conference Thursday that authorities have established the route taken by the suspect, Matthew Lewellsberger, who was inside the building. Cybertruck full of explosives.
Livelsberger rented the Cybertruck on Dec. 28 in Denver. From there, McMahill said, “We tracked his movements through Tesla charging stations to Monument, Colorado, on December 30. On December 31, the truck was charged in Trinidad, Colorado; Las Vegas, New Mexico; and Albuquerque, New Mexico.” First, the truck was charged in Holbrook, Flagstaff, and Kingman, Arizona.
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The Cybertruck was filled with explosives, including gasoline, camping fuel, and fireworks. (Cashm Press News / Shutterstock / Shutterstock)
McMahill added that authorities are looking to identify other people who may have used the charging stations at the same time to obtain additional video that could be used in the investigation.
Cybertrack was also observed by LPRs entering Vegas And this technology was used to trace the route that led to the Trump International Hotel, where the explosion occurred. In this explosion, one person was killed and seven people were injured.
Musk and Tesla are continuing to help with the investigation, as McMahill noted Thursday that the company is sending experts to extract video from the car. Help with research.
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Many of you may know that cyber trucks have a lot of cameras. Again, Mr. Musk has sent some of his people over here this afternoon to try to record part of the… inside the truck,” McMahill said.
Alex Nitzberg of FOX Business contributed to this report.