Investigators have yet to determine what prompted an active-duty U.S. Army soldier to rent a Tesla Cybertruck and drive it to Trump International Hotel in Las Vegaswhere he appeared to shoot himself in the head before the vehicle exploded on New Year’s Day.
Las Vegas sheriff Kevin McMahill identified 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as a person of interest in the case, although he would not say with 100% certainty that Livelsberger is a suspect until DNA matches the remains of a body in the Cybertruck. .
But Thursday evening, the Clark County coroner identified the driver of the vehicle as Livelsberger, noting the cause of death was an intraoral gunshot wound and the manner of death was suicide.
At approximately 8:40 a.m. on New Year’s Day, the truck was seen driving up to the hotel’s valet entrance before stopping. Seventeen seconds later the vehicle exploded and fireworks rang out from the bulletproof truck.
In addition to fireworks, the truck also contained camping fuel and gasoline, according to McMahill. The explosion did not damage the truck’s body other than glass and the bed deck, the sheriff noted.
SUSPECT IDENTIFIED AS FBI INVESTIGATES ACT OF TERRORISM AFTER BOURBON STREET ATTACK
Flames rise from a Tesla Cybertruck after it exploded outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day 2025. (Alcides Antunes/via Reuters)
He also said the hotel’s glass doors were not damaged, although seven bystanders suffered minor injuries.
While the subject’s body was burned beyond recognition, McMahill also said the subject suffered a gunshot wound to the head prior to the explosion, and a gun was found at his feet in the vehicle.
McMahill would not say that Livelsberger was on a suicide mission, although he did call it “a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately afterwards.”
WHO IS MATTHEW LIVELSBERGER? WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SUSPECTED TESLA CYBER TRUCK EXPLOSION
Matthew Livelsberger (Fox News)
On Thursday, FBI agents searched Livelsberger’s Colorado Springs home to determine his motive and how he ended up in Las Vegas.
“We absolutely know that we are dealing with a bombing, and it is a bombing that certainly raises concerns,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Spencer Evans said at a news conference Thursday. “It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building and that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have any information at this point that definitively tells us … it was because of this specific ideology or any reasoning behind it.”
The Associated Press reported that Livelsberger had recently returned from an overseas assignment in Germany and was on approved leave when he died, a U.S. official said.
A law enforcement official also told AP investigators that they learned through interviews that Livelsberger may have gotten into an argument with his wife over relationship issues shortly before he rented the Tesla and legally purchased handguns found in the truck. The official spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
1 DEAD, 7 INJURED AFTER TESLA CYBER TRUCK EXPLOSION OUTSIDE TRUMP HOTEL IN LAS VEGAS: POLICE
Matthew Livelsberger poses in an undated photo. (Fox News)
Livelsberger appears to have once been married to Sara Livelsberger, a 38-year-old who lives in Delray Beach, Florida. The Denver Post reported that Matthew Livelsberger divorced in 2018 and remarried in 2022.
In Facebook posts from 2016, Sara said she was a registered Democrat and shared images that disparaged President-elect Trump.
Although Livelsberger lives in Colorado, he has connections in Ohio.
The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio reported that Livelsberger was ticketed in Franklin County in September 2011 for driving 75 mph in a 40 mph zone.
BOMB DISPOSAL EXPERT BREAKS OFF THE CYBER TRUCK EXPLOSION
Investigators are looking at the contents of a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel on New Year’s Day in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Press Conference)
Livelsberger reportedly had an address in Westerville, the publication reported. He also owns real estate in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohioaccording to property records obtained by The Columbus Dispatch.
He graduated from Bucyrus High School in Ohio, where he played baseball and football. But after reportedly being injured while playing football, Livelsberger enlisted in the U.S. Army and worked as a communications officer in the Special Forces.
His uncle, Dean Livelsberger, told The Independent that his cousin “was a 100% patriot” and described him “as a Rambo type, for lack of a better term.”
The Independent reported that Dean said his cousin had patriotic topics on Facebook and loved President-elect Trump.
Dean also reportedly spoke to the publication about his cousin’s skills with explosives.
INVESTIGATES USE TATTOO AND PHOTOS TO IDENTIFY SUSPECT BEHIND CYBERTRUCK EXPLOSION AT TRUMP HOTEL
Investigators are looking at the contents of a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel on New Year’s Day in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Press Conference)
“Matt was a very skilled warrior, and he would have been able – if he was, and if he had done this – to create a more advanced explosive than using propane tanks and camping fuel,” he reportedly did. said. ‘He was what you might call a ‘super soldier’. If you’ve ever read about the things he won and the experience he had, some of it doesn’t make sense if he had the skills and ability to make something, shall we say, more “efficient.” His skills were enormous compared to what he had learned in the army.”
With those skills, Dean said, Livelsberger could have that made a bomb That would have wiped out half of that hotel if he was serious about hurting others.”
Livelsberger was one Operational Sergeant of the Green Beret who spent most of his time at Fort Carson, Colorado, and in Germany. McMahill said Livelsberger had been cleared to leave Germany, where he was serving with the Special Forces group. He also previously served in the National Guard and Army Reserve.
He also received several awards and honors during his service in the United States Army.
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U.S. Army Public Affairs told Fox News that Livelsberger earned the Bronze Star Medal with Valor; Bronze Star Medal four times; Meritorious Service Medal; Army Medal with Valor; Army Commendation Medal three times; Army Achievement Medal twice; Army Good Conduct Medal five times; National Defense Service Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal with three campaign stars; Expeditionary Medal for the Global War on Terror; Service Medal for the Global War on Terror; Petty Officer Professional Development Ribbon three times; Military Service Ribbon; Overseas Services Ribbon; NATO medal twice; Special Forces tab; Combat Infantryman Badge; Paratrooper badge; and Free Fall badge.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
