DENVER — The Colorado Springs resident suspected of detonating a Tesla Cybertruck in front of a Las Vegas hotel and the Texas man accused of driving a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans served at the same military base, Las Vegas police said Thursday, confirming a report late Wednesday by Denver7 Investigates.
Matthew Livelsberger is accused of renting a Cybertruck in Colorado Springs, driving it to Nevada and packing it with firework mortars and gas cans before exploding it in front of the Trump International Hotel in Vegas Wednesday morning, killing himself and injuring seven others. Shamsud-Din Jabbar is suspected of plowing through a crowd of New Year’s revelers in the French Quarter hours earlier, killing at least 15 and injuring dozens more in an attack that sent shockwaves through a famous New Year's destination the morning of a scheduled College Football Playoff game.
Authorities said Thursday the two men likely overlapped at Fort Bragg and again in Afghanistan. There was not, however, evidence that suggested the two men were assigned to the same unit or even knew each other.
Authorities had been investigating the link as a possible connection between the two New Year's Day attacks, but FBI officials said Thursday in New Orleans that there was "no definitive link" between the two events.
Both men were confirmed to be Army veterans in the aftermath of the attacks – both of which were being investigated as possible acts of terrorism. Late Wednesday, multiple informed sources told Denver7 Chief Investigator Tony Kovaleski of the link between the two suspects' military service.
BREAKING—Sources also confirming Livelsberger served at the same military base as the terrorist responsible for the attack in New Orleans and authorities are investigating a possible connection between the two men. @DenverChannel
— Tony Kovaleski (@TonyKovaleski) January 2, 2025
Both men used vehicles rented from the Turo car rental marketplace in their respective attacks. In a statement, a Turo spokesperson said the company did not believe either suspect "had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat."
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Livelsberger was a member of the Army’s elite Green Berets, a special forces unit and guerrilla warfare experts, according to an Army statement reported by the Associated Press. He has served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks, and was on approved leave when he died, the statement said. The Green Berets work to counter terrorists abroad using unconventional techniques.
Livelsberger spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that is home to Army special forces command.
Federal agents were staking out one of multiple Colorado Springs addresses associated with him late Wednesday awaiting a search warrant.
Jabbar enlisted in the Army in March 2007, working in both human resources and information technology. He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, then transferred into the U.S. Army Reserve in 2015, the service said in a statement reported by the Associated Press. He served until July 2020 and left the military with the rank of staff sergeant.
Authorities said Thursday morning that Jabbar, who was killed by officer, acted alone after initially suggesting Wednesday that he may have had accomplices.
The summary of both suspects' military service is courtesy of The Associated Press.
This is a developing news story and will be updated as we learn more.