Man in exploded Cybertruck was elite soldier and shot himself before blast

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - WASHINGTON — The man who drove a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas was an active-duty US special forces soldier and shot himself dead before the blast, officials have said.

Las Vegas police have identified Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the driver of the vehicle, which he rented more than 800 miles away and drove to the Nevada hotel on the morning of the blast.

Livelsberger's cause of death was suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Clark County Coroner's office.

Seven people were injured when the vehicle — filled with fuel canisters and firework mortars — exploded on New Year's Day. Officials said all injuries were minor.

Livelsberger drove the Cybertruck to the city on Wednesday morning, less than two hours before the detonation, police have said. Parked in front of the hotel near a glass entrance, the vehicle started to smoke, then exploded.

Las Vegas authorities said the Cybertruck helped contain the explosion, sending it vertical rather than outward. The nearby glass doors and windows of the hotel did not shatter in the blast.

Authorities said they have yet to determine any motive behind the incident.

"I'm comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately after," Sheriff McMahill said during Thursday's press conference.

The sheriff said investigators recovered a military ID, a passport, two semi-automatic pistols, fireworks, an iPhone, a smart watch and several credit cards in Livelsberger's name from the charred vehicle.

The body in the vehicle was burnt beyond recognition and was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said on Thursday.

McMahill said they found two tattoos on the driver's remains matching ones Livelsberger had.

The Colorado Springs native rented the Cybertruck on 28 December in Denver.

Police were able to track his movements using a number of photographs on the drive from Denver, Colorado to Las Vegas, Nevada, along with Tesla's charging technology that helped map where he stopped along the route. He was the only one seen driving the vehicle.

McMahill said there are several parallels — but no definitive link — between the suspects in the incident in Las Vegas and a truck attack in New Orleans that left 14 dead, which both took place on New Year's Day.

Both suspects served at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, though there is no record they served in same unit or were there at the same time. They also both served in Afghanistan in 2009, but there is no evidence they were in the same region or unit.

Both also used rental company Turo for the vehicles involved in the incidents, McMahill said.

"We don't believe there's any further threat from this subject or anybody associated to him here in Las Vegas," he said.

Livelsberger had decades of experience with the US military, having served in both the Army and National Guard. He was a decorated Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant.

He was serving in Germany but on approved leave at the time of the incident.

Livelsberger's father told the BBC's news partner CBS that his son was in Colorado to see his wife and eight-month-old daughter.

He said he last spoke to his son at Christmas and that everything seemed normal. — BBC