The person who rented the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the entrance of the Trump hotel in Las Vegas has been identified as an active-duty member of the U.S. Army’s elite special forces unit, two U.S. defense officials said.
The truck was rented to Matthew Alan Livelsberger,
two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News, but it was not immediately clear the identity of the person who was killed inside the vehicle when it erupted into flames early Wednesday outside of the Trump International Hotel or who may have been responsible for the explosion.
Meanwhile, federal law enforcement agents began searching a residence in Colorado Springs, Colorado, connected with the case and were expected to be on-site for several hours, the agency said in a statement.
“This activity is related to the explosion in Las Vegas,” the FBI said on X, declining to provide further details.
The incident is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, three senior law enforcement members said.
A motive has yet to be established, but the blast came just hours after a driver in a rented pickup truck who was flying an ISIS flag plowed into New Year’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 15 and injuring more than 30 others before he was shot dead by police.
The driver in New Orleans was identified Wednesday as a U.S. Army veteran from Texas.
Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters Wednesday that the pickup truck and the Tesla in the Las Vegas explosion were rented from the same company, Turo.
“I don’t know,” McMahill said when asked whether the two incidents are connected. “But we are investigating whether there is any connectivity.”
McMahill had declined to name the person who rented the car but told reporters they had found no immediate link with ISIS or any other terrorist organization.
Jeremy Schwartz, the FBI’s acting special agent in charge of the investigation, said it appeared the incident was isolated.
Turo said in a statement it is assisting investigators.
“We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat,” the statement said.
The explosion was reported at about 8:40 a.m. local time, police said. Seven bystanders were also hurt, but their injuries were considered minor.
In videos circulating online, sirens can be heard in the Trump International Hotel lobby as the vehicle just outside the doors is engulfed in flames. A person on social media said they were near the front door when the vehicle exploded and they were forced to leave their luggage by the door.
Other posts showed smoke filling the air around the building and first responders racing to the scene.
McMahill said Tesla CEO Elon Musk helped to track the route of the vehicle and provided video showing the Cybertruck at Tesla charging stations.
Musk, who is also a part of Trump’s inner circle, said on X that the vehicle itself did not cause the explosion.
“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,” Musk wrote. “All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”
President-elect Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, thanked local law enforcement for their “swift response.”
“The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority,” Eric Trump said in a statement.
