Matthew Livelsberger — the alleged driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Las Vegas hotel on New Year’s Day — died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before the explosion, authorities said at a news conference Thursday.
Investigators had already gathered significant evidence that Livelsberger was behind the wheel of the vehicle before publicly confirming their suspicions.
Officials found credit and identification cards in his name, purchase records identifying him as the owner of the guns found in the wrecked vehicle and tattoos similar to Livelsberger’s on the driver’s body, physical injuries that slowed the identification process.
The Clark County Coroner ultimately identified Livelsberger — of Colorado Springs, Colo. — as the driver Thursday. His cause of death was a gunshot wound to the mouth.
Police shared this photo of Matthew Livelsberger at a press conference.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
No one else was seriously injured, although seven people in the area suffered minor injuries, authorities said.
Livelsberger, an active-duty Army soldier, was found with a gun at his feet. Two firearms — a handgun and a rifle — were found in the vehicle “unburnt,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said.
Both weapons were legally purchased on Monday, he added.
Livelsberger rented the Tesla vehicle through the Turo app in Denver on Saturday before driving to Las Vegas through cities in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. His progress was tracked through Tesla charging stations, officials said.
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.
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
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 has no direct connection to the New Year’s Day truck attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people — including the suspect — and injured 35 others, according to the FBI. The truck used in the New Orleans attack was also rented using 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.
President Joe Biden said Thursday that federal investigators have no evidence of a link between the attacks, but said he had ordered them to keep looking.
This undated photo provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows the wreckage of a Tesla Cybertruck that was involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.
AP
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.
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.
Matthew Livelsberger in his LinkedIn profile picture.
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.
“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.
An investigator holds the damaged U.S. government identification of Matthew Livelsberger, 37, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 2, 2025.
via Lvmpd/Reuters
