By Rich McKay and Hannah Lang
(Reuters) – Officials on Thursday positively identified the person found dead inside a Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International hotel in Las Vegas as a U.S. Army soldier in Colorado, while the FBI said it was not clear whether the explosion was an act. terrorism.
The FBI said it has so far found no definitive link between the New Year's Day truck attack in New Orleans that killed 15 people and the Cybertruck bombing in Las Vegas later the same day, which left seven people with minor injuries.
The driver of the Cybertruck was identified as Matthew Livelsberger, 37, an active duty Army soldier from Colorado Springs, and police said he acted alone.
Livelsberger shot himself in the mouth, police said, citing a report from the Clark County Coroner/Medical Examiner, according to a post on X by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Livelsberger was inside the vehicle when gasoline cans and large fireworks in the bed of the truck exploded, police said.
Police previously told a press conference that they believed the person found in the truck was Livelsberger, but because the body was mysteriously burned, investigators were awaiting confirmation from DNA evidence and medical records.
Livelsberger shot himself just before the explosives detonated in the vehicle, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters. A gun was found at his feet.
It was one of two semi-automatic handguns found in Cybertruck, both of which were legally purchased by Livelsberger on Dec. 30. Law enforcement also found a military identification, passport, iPhone and credit cards in the truck.
Livelsberger was assigned to the Army Special Operations Command and was on approved leave at the time of his death, an Army official said. The Army Special Operations Command would not comment on ongoing investigations, a spokesman said.
A US official told Reuters that Livelsberger was awarded the Bronze Star for valor and the military commendation for bravery, as well as the combat badge. He completed five combat deployments to Afghanistan, the official said.
A close relative of Livelsberger, who asked not to be named because he did not want to be publicly associated with the suspect, told Reuters that Livelsberger had always wanted to be “a soldier, in the Special Forces, even as a young child. . And when he accomplished that, he was a soldier.
Livelsberger was a supporter of President-elect Donald Trump throughout the Republican political era, seeing him as a pro-military figure, a relative told Reuters. “He thought Trump was the greatest thing in the world.”
Livelsberger went to high school in Bucyrus in northern Ohio, the man said, where he played football and baseball and seemed happy and popular.
The man said there was no inkling in the family that Livingsberger was planning something like the Las Vegas bombing. He said he could not connect what Livelsberger is believed to have done to someone he knew as a child and a man.
Livelsberger graduated from Bucyrus High School in 2005, according to Ohio media. He immediately left for the army after graduation, his relative said.
Videos taken by witnesses inside and outside the Las Vegas hotel showed the Cybertruck, an electric vehicle with a distinctive angular design, exploding with flames coming out of it, as it sat in front of the hotel around 8:40 am local time (1640 GMT). ) on Wednesday.
A spokesman for Trump did not return a request for comment Thursday.
TRUMP BUILDING, SLA VEHICLE
The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is part of the Trump Organization, Donald Trump's company, which will return to the White House in January. Fire and law enforcement officials on Wednesday responded quickly to the explosion.
Tesla ( O: ) CEO Elon Musk was a key supporter of Trump in his 2024 presidential campaign and is also an adviser to the incoming president.
“It's not lost on us that it's in front of the Trump building, that it's a Tesla vehicle, but we don't have any information yet that tells us for sure or suggests that it's because of this vision, or … The reasoning behind it,” said McMahill, of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Police say Livelsberger rented a Cybertruck in Denver on Dec. 28 and made stops in several cities, including Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Flagstaff, Arizona, before arriving in Las Vegas early Wednesday.
The truck drove along the city's hotel- and casino-lined Strip, drove into the driveway of the Trump hotel and later returned to the valet area. The Trump hotel was evacuated and most of the guests were taken to another hotel after the explosion.
Both the Cybertruck and the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack were rented by the ride-sharing service Turo, McMahill said.
A Turo spokeswoman said the company does not believe any of the lessors involved have a criminal background that would identify them as a security threat.