Alleged driver Tesla Cybertruck exploded He suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head outside the Trump International Las Vegas hotel on Wednesday before the explosion, officials confirmed at a news conference Thursday.
Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active duty Army soldier, was also identified as the driver who was killed in the explosion. No one else was seriously injured.
Officials are still waiting for DNA tests to come back to definitively confirm that Livelsberger was the person who died in the vehicle, but the overwhelming evidence — including credit cards in his name, similar tattoos, Livelsberger’s gun purchases in the truck and an ID — – indicates as an individual. The fire and explosion made the identification process difficult because of the physical injuries the driver suffered, authorities said.
Police shared this photo of Matthew Livelsberger at a press conference.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
Livelsberger was shot in the head before the explosion and a gun was found at his feet, according to Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Two guns — a handgun and a rifle — were legally purchased Monday and were found “unburnt” in the vehicle.
After renting the vehicle in Denver on Saturday, Livelsberger drove through several cities in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, officials said, noting that his location was tracked through Tesla charging stations.
The vehicle first pulled into the service area of the Trump International Las Vegas hotel just after 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, officials said. It then left the area, driving down Las Vegas Boulevard before returning to the rangers’ area around 8:39 a.m. It exploded 17 seconds after arriving.
The driver was the only casualty of the incident. Seven people in the area suffered minor injuries, authorities said.
The remains of a burned Tesla Cybertruck are inspected at the entrance to Trump Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 1, 2025.
Ronda Churchill/Reuters
Livelsberger served as a Green Beret in the Army and was approved to serve in Germany at the time of his death, a U.S. Army spokesman said Thursday.
He received numerous decorations in battle, including the Bronze Star with the “V” device for bravery, which denoted heroism under fire. Livelsberger received four other Bronze Star medals, according to Army records. He also earned the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with three stars. Each star represents service in a separate campaign in Afghanistan.
The Las Vegas incident is not believed to have any direct connection New Year’s Day truck attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people — including the suspect — and injured 35 others, according to the FBI. Like the truck used in the New Orleans attack, the Cybertruck was rented with the Turo app, officials said.
“At this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the attack in Las Vegas,” the FBI’s Christopher Raia said Thursday morning at a news conference about the New Orleans attack.
The two drivers may have overlapped at Fort Liberty or in Afghanistan, although there is no evidence to suggest the two were assigned together or knew each other, McMahill said.
“So far they’ve found no evidence of that connection — I’ve instructed them to keep looking,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Thursday.
Livelsberger was a supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, an official briefed on the investigation told ABC News. His wife, who investigators spoke to in Colorado Springs, said he was away from home around Christmas following a lawsuit over allegations of infidelity, the official said.
Matthew Livelsberger in his LinkedIn profile picture.
His wife told officials she didn’t think Livelsberger meant to hurt anyone, the official told ABC News.
Livelsberger is believed to have told the person he rented the truck from that he was going camping in the Grand Canyon, the official told ABC News.
Investigators are still trying to determine how the truck’s contents exploded, but with the vehicle’s contents so badly burned, it could be a slow process, according to the official.
The sheriff said Tesla CEO Elon Musk helped with the investigation after unlocking the truck after it went into automatic lock due to the explosion and providing investigators with video of the suspect at loading docks from Colorado to Las Vegas.
McMahill said police believe the explosion was an “isolated incident” and that “there is no further threat to the community.” He also said police do not believe anyone was helping the Las Vegas suspect.
Flames rise from a Tesla Cybertruck after it exploded outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on January 1, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada, in this screenshot taken from a social media video.
Alcides Antunes via Reuters
“We think everything is safe now,” McMahill said.
Video footage played at the Las Vegas press conference showed numerous firework-style mortars, gasoline and camping fuel canisters in the back of the truck.
The property is the subject of frequent threats and heightened security given its connection to Trump.
