A Tesla Cybertruck that exploded and burst into flames Wednesday morning just outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas has left one person dead and seven injured, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).
Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a 37-year-old man who was a US Army Green Beret from Colorado Springs, has been named as the prime suspect by investigators. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill, who provided new details during a news conference Thursday, said Liveslberger’s military ID, credit cards and passport were discovered in the Cybertruck. Livelsberger has also been identified as the person who rented the Cybertruck, and video at various Tesla Supercharging stations between Colorado and Las Vegas identifies him as the driver.
McMahill did not definitively name Livelsberger as the individual who was killed and said they will wait for DNA to confirm his identity. The sheriff said the individual died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound moments before the explosion. The pistol was registered to Livelsberger.
An eyewitness who captured video of the fire from inside the hotel’s lobby and posted it to X said the vehicle flipped out and then “exploded.” The video and others like it quickly spread across X.
Law enforcement continues to investigate a number of leads, McMahill said. Gov. Joe Lombardo said his office was coordinating with LVMPD and partner agencies.
During both press conferences, McMahill referred to the fatal shooting that occurred Wednesday morning in New Orleans, where at least 15 people were killed. He did not make an implied connection to the attack, but said law enforcement was taking precautions.
“We are very aware of what has happened in New Orleans with the event that happened there, and the number of casualties there, and the additional IEDs,” he said during the press conference Wednesday afternoon. “So as you can imagine, with an explosion here on the iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking all the precautions we need to take to keep our community safe.”
In a conference call late Wednesday afternoon, McMahill said the Cybertruck was rented in Colorado through peer-to-peer rental company Turo and driven to Las Vegas, arriving around 7:30 a.m. PT.
McMahill also noted that the Ford truck in the New Orleans attack was rented through Turo. He called it a “coincidence” and said it was being investigated. Turo, which was founded in 2010 and has been compared to Airbnb for cars, allows private car owners to rent out their vehicles through the startup’s website or app. The company, which filed for an IPO in 2022, was expected to go public this year.
A Turo spokesperson told TechCrunch in an emailed statement that the company is working with law enforcement.
“We are heartbroken by the violence in New Orleans and Las Vegas and our prayers are with the victims and families. We are actively cooperating with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents,” the emailed statement said. “We do not believe that any of the tenants involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat. We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards in risk management, thanks to our world-class trust and security technologies and teams that include experienced former law enforcement professionals.”
McMahill said law enforcement was seeking backup equipment, adding that there does not appear to be any further threat to the Las Vegas community. “If that changes, obviously you’ll be hearing from me directly to provide you with an update,” he said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted several notes on X, initially saying that “the entire senior team at Tesla is investigating” the incident. “We will post more information as soon as we learn something. We have never seen anything like this,” Musk wrote.
Musk later tweeted that the vehicle was operating normally, according to telemetry data he said the Tesla team had seen.
“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 telemetry of the vehicle was positive at the time of the explosion,” he wrote.
McMahill personally thanked Musk for providing law enforcement with specific information about the Cybertruck’s operation, as well as video from Tesla charging stations used by the individual.
The incident comes as Musk, who also owns X, maintains a close relationship with President-elect Donald Trump. A review of Musk’s flight records showed at least 31 flights to or from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. This week, the NYT reported that Musk has been staying at a villa on the Mar-a-Lago estate.
This article has been updated with new information, including that the explosion left one person dead and several injured, what contents were found in the vehicle and images.
