New Details Emerge in Cybertruck Explosion, but Motive Is Still Unclear

 

New Details Emerge in Cybertruck Explosion, but Motive Is Still Unclear

 

Officials said they used data from Tesla charging stations to chart the driver’s dayslong journey from Colorado to the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.

 

Jacey Fortin Jesus Jiménez

By Jacey Fortin and Jesus Jiménez

Jan. 2, 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/02/us/las-vegas-cybertruck-explosion-details.html

 

It was difficult, at first, for the authorities to identify the driver of the Tesla truck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning. By the time the flames were extinguished, he had been burned beyond recognition.

 

But as investigators pored over the charred remains of his ruined rented vehicle, a 2024 Cybertruck, they discovered some clues to the driver’s background and his intentions: some guns, a military ID, fuel and many fireworks.

 

And on Thursday, the authorities said that they had found something else: The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the driver’s head, the county coroner ruled.

 

“Am I comfortable calling it a suicide mission?” Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in response to a reporter’s question at a Thursday news briefing. “I’m comfortable calling it a suicide, with a bombing that occurred immediately thereafter. I’m not giving it any other labels.”

 

The authorities identified the driver as Master Sgt. Matthew Alan Livelsberger of the Army and a soldier with the 10th Special Forces Group.

 

At the briefing, the authorities provided the most detailed glimpse yet into Sergeant Livelsberger’s actions in the days before the truck burst into flames. But they have yet to uncover a reason for the explosion, which left seven people with minor injuries.

 

“It’s a bombing that certainly has factors that raise concerns,” said Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the Las Vegas field office of the F.B.I. “It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle.”

 

Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, has cultivated a close relationship with President-elect Donald J. Trump. He was a top donor to the campaign to help Mr. Trump win the White House, and he has been a strident supporter of Mr. Trump on X, the social media platform Mr. Musk owns.

 

Mr. Trump, who is set to take office on Jan. 20, has selected Mr. Musk to serve as a co-leader of a new government efficiency commission.

 

Mr. Evans said that it was too soon to say anything about the driver’s ideological leanings. “The motivation at this point is unknown,” he said.

 

Sergeant Livelsberger was a 37-year-old man from Colorado, according to Sheriff McMahill. But he was based in Germany, where he was serving on active duty. He had served in several other countries, too, including Afghanistan. His decorations included a Bronze Star for valor.

 

Sergeant Livelsberger’s LinkedIn profile, which was taken down after the explosion, indicated that he went to Norwich University, a military college in Vermont, and graduated in 2019. Records show he bought a four-bedroom home in Colorado Springs in 2020.

 

He was visiting the United States on an approved leave. And he rented the Tesla truck in Denver on Dec. 28, Sheriff McMahill said.

 

Over a few days, Sergeant Livelsberger drove from Colorado through New Mexico and Arizona — a route that officials traced using data from the Tesla charging stations he had visited.

 

On the first morning of the new year, surveillance videos showed the truck making a couple stops elsewhere in Las Vegas before pulling up to the glass doors of the Trump International Hotel, a 64-story tower on Fashion Show Drive, not far from the Las Vegas Strip.

 

At about 8:40 a.m. local time on Wednesday, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received a report of an explosion. Witnesses said they saw the Cybertruck engulfed in flames as it sat in front of the hotel.

 

After firefighters extinguished the blaze, they found at least two pieces of identification that seemed to confirm Sergeant Livelsberger’s identity.

 

Also in the Tesla were two semiautomatic handguns, which Sergeant Livelsberger legally purchased on Dec. 30, and a trove of fireworks and fuel enhancers — things that are fairly easy to find in stores.

 

“The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” said Kenneth R. Cooper, the assistant special agent in charge of the San Francisco field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

 

On Thursday, the Trump Hotel appeared to be largely unscathed.

 

Officials are still trying to determine whether the explosion might be linked to another fatal incident: Hours before the Tesla exploded in Las Vegas, a man drove a pickup truck into crowds celebrating the new year on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 14 people.

 

The driver of that truck rented it on the peer-to-peer rental app Turo, according to the company, and the Tesla truck was rented the same way. Additionally, both drivers had served in the military, including stints at Fort Bragg, N.C., and in Afghanistan.

 

But it was not clear whether they had ever been in the same place at the same time, and the authorities said that they had not yet found any signs of a link between the men.

 

Reporting was contributed by Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs John Ismay, Emmett Lindner, Alexandra E. Petri, Dave Philipps, Eric Schmitt, Shannon Sims, Eli Tan, Pashtana Usufzy and Jenny Vrentas. Kitty Bennett contributed research.

 

Jacey Fortin covers a wide range of subjects for the National desk of The Times, including extreme weather, court cases and state politics all across the country. More about Jacey Fortin

 

Jesus Jiménez covers breaking news, online trends and other subjects. He is based in New York City. More about Jesus Jiménez