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The person who died when a Tesla Cybertruck packed with explosives burst into flames outside the hotel in Las Vegas part-owned by Donald Trump was a highly decorated US army Green Beret who deployed twice to Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday.
The driver and lone occupant of the electric-powered Tesla Cybertruck that caught fire and exploded has been identified as Matthew Livelsberger, from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Livelsberger, 37, was killed in the explosion, while seven bystanders were wounded. Livelsberger was identified by Denver’s KOAA and KTNV media outlets, and on Thursday, two law enforcement officials confirmed his identity to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an investigation.
The fireball erupted early on Wednesday morning, just hours after a mass killing in New Orleans in which a military veteran rammed a truck into a crowd. Soon after the explosion in Las Vegas, investigators discovered the vehicle was packed with fireworks-style mortars, camping fuel and gas canisters.
Law enforcement sources confirmed to local news outlets that the electric vehicle was rented from Turo, the vehicle-sharing service that was also used to rent the truck in the New Orleans attack.
This sparked a day of questions, including from Joe Biden, Tesla owner Elon Musk and investigators about possible connections between the two incidents, including reports from news station Denver 7 that Livelsberger and the suspect in the New Orleans attack had served at the same army base at one point.
An unnamed official told AP that both had spent time at the massive North Carolina base of Fort Liberty, formerly known as Fort Bragg, which is home to army special forces command. However, the official added that their time there did not overlap.
“At this point there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas,” FBI deputy assistant director Christopher Raia told a news conference on Thursday.
The US army said that Livelsberger was an active-duty soldier from 2006 to 2011, before transferring to the national guard and then the army reserves. He rejoined the army in 2012 and was a special operations soldier.
US special operations command confirmed that Livelsberger was assigned to the command and on leave at the time of his death.
He served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter-terrorism abroad and train US partners, the army said in a statement. He had been deployed twice to Afghanistan and also served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and DR Congo, the army said. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge, and an army commendation medal with valor.
The FBI is conducting operations and searches in Colorado Springs in relation to the Cybertruck explosion, sources told ABC News, with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Investigators are following leads in at least four states and overseas, sources said.
Livelsberger’smost recent military role was listed as a remote and autonomous systems manager, which he had been in for just three months.
The Trump hotel was not damaged in the explosion. The Tesla founder, Elon Musk, later posted on X that “the evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”
Colorado Springs addresses connected to Livelsberger were staked out and later raided by FBI agents on Wednesday.
Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas metropolitan police department, confirmed at a news conference that the truck used in the attack was rented from Turo in Colorado and driven to Nevada.
McMahill said investigators were able to track the truck’s journey from Colorado to Las Vegas as the driver stopped at charging stations along the route and that the truck was in front of the hotel for 15 to 20 seconds before it exploded.
The sheriff said Musk helped the investigation by having the truck unlocked after it auto-locked in the blast and by giving investigators video of the suspect at charging stations along its 800-mile route.
McMahill also addressed the political questions that hang over the Las Vegas incident. “It’s a Tesla truck. And we know that Elon Musk is working with president-elect Trump. And it’s the Trump Tower. So there’s obviously things to be concerned about there,” he said.
A Turo spokesperson said in a statement: “We are actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents. We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat.”
