Matthew Livelsberger named as driver of Cybertruck that exploded outside Trump hotel: reports
Matthew Livelsberger of Colorado Springs has been named as the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside Trump International Hotel, sources say
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The driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel on New Year’s Day has been identified as Matthew Livelsberger, according to media reports.
Multiple informed sources told ABC affiliate Denver 7 and KOAA News that Livelsberger, 37, a former Army veteran of Colorado Springs, was behind the wheel of the vehicle that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sammy Davis Jr. Drive at 8:40 a.m. on Wednesday.
Livelsberger died in the blast, according to the sources. Police are yet to officially confirm the identity of the deceased individual.
Seven people sustained injuries, Las Vegas County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in a news conference. Two of the casualties were taken to University Medical Center Southern Nevada. All injuries are minor, the sheriff said.
The suspect is believed to have rented the silver Tesla Cybertuck in Colorado via the carsharing company Turo.
McMahill noted that officials are “very well aware” of the New Orleans attack in which Texas resident Shamsud Din Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd of people celebrating New Year’s Eve just hours earlier, killing at least 15 people.
Livelsberger and Jabbar allegedly served at the same military base, sources told Denver7.
Sources also told the outlet that multiple addresses had been associated with the alleged suspect, with the FBI awaiting a search warrant for one residence on Marksheffel Road late Wednesday. The Burea of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Exploves have been brought in to assist, according to reports.
Authorities continue to investigate the explosion as a possible act of terror, an official with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told ABC News, but a potential motive is not yet known.
“At this time, we are investigating a number of leads, and I’m not prepared to release any of that information to you just yet. I can tell you that there are seven victims right now that sustained injuries from the explosion,” McMahill said.
Video posted on social media showed different angles of the explosion, which appeared to include fireworks.
Firework mortars and camp fuel canisters were found inside the truck, sources told Denver 7.
Guests staying at the hotel and on surrounding properties told FOX5 that they heard several “booms” which many described as being louder than the New Year’s Eve fireworks.
“It was shaking the glass, it was so loud,” one witness who was staying at the Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip told KLAS. “I looked out and see smoke and me and my wife booked it out of there.”
McMahill highlighted the link between Trump and Elon Musk, the Tesla founder and the president-elect’s incoming head of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, tasked with cutting trillions from government spending.
“Obviously a Cybertruck, the Trump hotel, there are lots of questions we have to answer,” McMahill said, underscoring the close relationship between the president-elect and Tesla founder Elon Musk.
Musk took the opportunity to praise Tesla’s Cybertruck for being so sturdy that he said it helped contain the blast.
“The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards,” he wrote in a post on X.
Trump is yet to comment on the situation.
The Independent has contacted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI for more information.