Details are beginning to emerge about the man killed in the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.
At a news conference Thursday, Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said the medical examiner’s office suggested the man died by suicide before the explosion.
“The individual had sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the vehicle explosion,” McMahill told reporters. He added that a pistol was found at the man’s feet.
Earlier in the day, news agencies including the Associated Press and AFP identified the man as an active-duty soldier named Matthew Livelsberger.
Citing unnamed military officials, the media explained that Livelsberger was on leave from his post with the United States Army’s Special Operations Command.
He was a highly decorated Green Beret who had served in various roles with the US military since 2006, with postings in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Tajikistan, among other places.
But on Wednesday, Livelsberger was allegedly found dead inside a burning Tesla Cybertruck on the ring road outside the hotel’s glass front doors.
Seven other people were injured when the Cybertruck exploded, and details remain scarce about the circumstances of the explosion.
Kenny Cooper, a special agent for the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, expressed surprise that a member of the military was involved in the blast, which caused little damage other than the Cybertruck.
“The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” Kenny Cooper said.
Early investigations indicate that the Cybertruck was carrying fireworks and fuel canisters at the camp when it exploded.
The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is named for President-elect Donald Trump, a co-owner of the property who will take office for a second term in the White House on January 20.
In a brief statement Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said investigators had searched a home in Colorado in connection with the incident, but did not provide further details.
“Denver FBI; Denver Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Colorado Springs Police Department are conducting law enforcement activity at a residential address in Colorado Springs,” the statement said.
“Denver FBI personnel and specialist teams will be on site for several hours. This activity is related to the explosion in Las Vegas on Wednesday.”
The blast happened the same day as a deadly drive-by attack in the southern city of New Orleans that killed at least 15 people, including the suspect.
At least 35 other people were wounded in that attack, according to an official estimate on Thursday. That incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack and suspected improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were discovered in coolers left on the street at the crime scene.
But the authorities have not been able to connect the two incidents.
At a press conference in New Orleans on Thursday, Christopher Raia, a deputy assistant director from the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said he has found no connection so far.
“We are following all possible leads and not ruling everything out,” Raia told reporters. “However, at this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas.”
Law enforcement initially believed the New Orleans shooting suspect, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, had received help from others.
But on Thursday, Raia said authorities now believe Jabbar acted alone. “We are confident at this point that there are no accomplices.”
He said initial reports from associates were likely prompted by witnesses who reported bystanders examining the two coolers with IEDs, not knowing what was inside.
Jabbar was eventually shot and killed after exiting his vehicle and opening fire on police.
Both the New Orleans car blast and the Las Vegas Cybertruck blast involved vehicles that were rented through the Turo car rental app.
Livelsberger and Jabbar were also military veterans who spent time at Fort Bragg, a North Carolina military installation now known as Fort Liberty.
But an anonymous official told The Associated Press that the two men were not stationed at the base at the same time.
