LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal law enforcement officials are continuing to investigate whether a highly decorated Army soldier from Colorado Springs was connected to any terror network as more details about the explosion outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel on New Year's Day came to light Thursday.
Spencer Evans, a special agent in charge of the FBI division in Las Vegas said during a news conference the motivation behind the man's actions in the days leading up to the events that transpired outside the hotel remain unknown, though officials are working to determine whether there is any potential connection to other events going on in the world, most notably the deadly ramming attack in New Orleans that occurred several hours earlier.
"We know we have a bombing, absolutely — and it's a bombing that certainly has, in fact, raised concerns. It's not lost on us that it's in front of the Trump building, that it's a Tesla vehicle, but we don't have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of" a particular ideology, Evans said.
The man, who officials formally identified as Matthew Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado Springs, shot himself in the head before the Tesla Cybertruck burst into flames, according to Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. A handgun he used to end his life was found at his feet in the driver's seat, he said.
Later Thursday, Las Vegas police posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Livelsberger had died by suicide from a gunshot in the mouth.
Officials believe Livelsberg likely planned to cause more damage but the explosive was rudimentary and made from consumer-grade fireworks, according to Kenny Cooper, a special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives division in San Francisco, who added the steel-sided pickup truck absorbed much of the force, limiting damage from the blast to the interior of the truck and away from the hotel's doors a few feet away.
“The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” said Cooper.
Among other charred items found inside the truck were a second firearm, a number of fireworks, a passport, a military ID, credit cards, an iPhone and a smartwatch, McMahill said. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally on Monday.
Investigators have not definitively identified the remains as Livelsberger as his body was burned beyond recognition, but the IDs and tattoos on the body “give a strong indication that it’s him,” the sheriff said.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the Army said in a statement. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.
He was awarded two Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died, according to the statement.
McMahill said Livelsberger rented the Tesla electric vehicle in Denver on Saturday and the sheriff displayed a map showing that it was charged in the Colorado town of Monument near Colorado Springs on Monday. On New Year’s Eve, it was charged in Trinidad, Colorado, and the towns of Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Gallup in New Mexico, along the Interstate 40 corridor.
Then on Wednesday, the day of the explosion, it was charged in the Arizona towns of Holbrook, Flagstaff and Kingman before video showed it on the Las Vegas Strip about 7:30 a.m.
McMahill said investigators obtained charging station photos showing Livelsberger “was the individual that was driving this vehicle” and was alone.
“We’re not aware of any other subjects involved in this particular case,” the sheriff said.
The FBI said Thursday in a post on X that it was “conducting law enforcement activity” at a home in Colorado Springs related to Wednesday's explosion but provided no other details.
The explosion of the truck, packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, came hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people before being shot to death by police. That crash was being investigated as a terrorist attack. The FBI said Thursday that they believe Jabbar acted alone, reversing its position from a day earlier that he likely worked with others.
Both Livelsberger and Jabbar spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that is home to multiple Army special operations units. However, one of the officials who spoke to the AP said there is no overlap in their assignments at the base, now called Fort Liberty.
During Thursday's news conference in Las Vegas, officials said there was also no evidence that both were in the same province in Afghanistan or the same unit.
Chris Raia, FBI deputy assistant director, said Thursday that officials have found ‘no definitive link’ between the New Orleans attack and the truck explosion in Las Vegas.
Seven people nearby suffered minor injuries when the Tesla truck exploded. Video showed a tumble of charred fireworks mortars, canisters and other explosive devices crowded into the back of the pickup. The truck bed walls were still intact because the blast shot straight up rather than to the sides.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday afternoon on X that “we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself."
"All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” Musk wrote.
Musk has recently become a member of Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk was in Las Vegas early Wednesday. Both had attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at his South Florida estate.
Denver7's Óscar Contreras contributed to this report.
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Copp, Richer and Long contributed from Washington. Associated Press writers Rio Yamat and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.