Driver of Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in front of Trump Hotel in Las Vegas identified
Law enforcement officials have identified the man they believe to be behind the wheel of a Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas Wednesday as a motive for the incident remains unclear.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill held a press conference Thursday providing updates on the investigation into the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.
He said the driver of the truck, 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger of Colorado Springs, Colorado, remained in the vehicle during the fire and was "burnt beyond recognition." Authorities found identification left behind in the vehicle.
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Although final confirmation of his identity was contingent upon DNA evidence or medical records, the investigation has uncovered images of Livelsberger traveling across the country in the same vehicle.
Livelsberger "sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle," McMahill said, later telling a reporter he believes it was self-inflicted immediately before the explosion.
He commented on possible connections between what unfolded in Las Vegas Wednesday and the attack that killed more than a dozen people in New Orleans, Louisiana, just hours earlier.
"He is a current member of the military," McMahill said of Livelsberger. "Both of the subjects served at Fort Bragg, North Carolina."
At the same time, McMahill stressed that no record exists that the perpetrator behind the New Orleans attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, and Livelsberger "served in the same unit or even [in] the same years."
"I also know that they both served in Afghanistan in 2009," he said. "We don't have any evidence that they were in the same province in Afghanistan, the same location or the same unit."
Jabbar and Livelsberger had spent time at Fort Bragg, a massive Army base home to Army special forces command now known as Fort Liberty. An official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press there wasn't any "overlap in their assignments."
Both men's use of the car-rental app Turo to rent their vehicles is another similarity between them.
McMahill detailed the route Livelsberger took before arriving in Las Vegas, which began when he rented the truck in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday.
Based on data obtained from his stops at Tesla charging stations, Livelsberger stopped in Monument, Colorado, on Monday and made several stops on Tuesday in Trinidad, Colorado; Las Vegas, New Mexico; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Gallup, New Mexico. Livelsberger's journey continued Wednesday morning with stops in Holbrook, Flagstaff, and Kingman, Arizona, before arriving in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The motive behind the explosion remains unknown as of Thursday afternoon. The investigation determined that Livelsberger lawfully purchased two firearms recovered at the scene on Monday, two days before the attack. Law enforcement officials previously revealed that seven people were injured as a result of the blast.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
