Details are beginning to emerge about the man who died when his Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.
Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference Thursday that the medical examiner’s office believed the man committed suicide before the explosion.
“The person suffered a gunshot wound to the head before the vehicle exploded,” McMahill told reporters. He added that a handgun was found at the man’s foot.
This morning, news agencies such as Associated Press and AFP revealed that the man was an active-duty soldier named Matthew Livelsberger.
News outlets, citing unnamed military officials, explained that Liebelsberger was on leave from his position with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
He has been a Green Beret since 2006, serving in various roles in the U.S. military, including in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Tajikistan.
But on Wednesday, Livelsberger was reportedly found dead inside a burning Tesla Cybertruck in a circular driveway outside the hotel’s glass front entrance.
Seven other people were injured when the Cybertruck exploded, and details about the circumstances surrounding the explosion are still scarce.
Kenny Cooper, a special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, expressed surprise that a military member was involved in the explosion, which caused little damage other than a cybertruck.
“You can’t expect a level of sophistication from an individual with this type of military experience,” Kenny Cooper said.
Initial investigations indicate that the Cybertruck was transporting fireworks and camp fuel canisters at the time of the explosion.
Trump International Hotel Las Vegas is named for the property’s co-owner, President-elect Donald Trump, who begins his second term in the White House on January 20.
briefly name On Thursday, the FBI said investigators searched a home in Colorado in connection with the case but did not provide further details.
“FBI Denver; the Denver Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; “The Colorado Springs Police Department is conducting law enforcement activities at a residential address in Colorado Springs,” the statement said.
“FBI Denver personnel and a team of specialists will be on scene for several hours. “This activity is related to the Las Vegas explosion last Wednesday.”
The explosion occurred on the same day as a car-ramming attack in the southern city of New Orleans that killed at least 15 people, including the suspect.
At least 35 people were injured in the attack, according to official estimates Thursday. The incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack, and it has been reported that an improvised explosive device (IED) was found in a cooler left on the street at the scene of the incident.
But authorities stopped short of linking the two incidents.
At a news briefing in New Orleans on Thursday, FBI Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Christopher Raia emphasized that no link has been found so far.
“We are following up on all potential leads and we are not ruling everything out,” Raia told reporters. “However, at this time there is no clear link between the attack here in New Orleans and the attack in Las Vegas.”
Law enforcement initially believed the suspect in the New Orleans attack, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, had received help from others.
But on Thursday, Raia said authorities now believe Jabbar acted alone. “At this point, we are confident that there are no accomplices.”
He said initial reports of accomplices were likely prompted by witnesses who reported passers-by checking two coolers with IEDs without knowing what was inside.
Jabbar got out of his vehicle and opened fire on police before ultimately being shot dead.
Both the New Orleans car crash and the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion involved vehicles rented through the car rental app Turo.
Livelsberger and Jabbar were also veterans who spent time at Fort Bragg, a North Carolina military installation now known as Fort Liberty.
However, an unnamed official told The Associated Press that the two men were not stationed at the base at the same time.
