US soldier identified to be driver of exploded Cybertruck
Photo: Authorities are still working to establish a motive (Getty Images)
On Wednesday, January 1, a Cybertruck exploded near Trump's hotel in Las Vegas. Police found out that the dead driver was a US soldier, according to Reuters and the Associated Press.
The agency writes that on Thursday, officials identified the person found dead in the Cybertruck that exploded at the entrance to the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
The deceased driver was 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty US Army soldier from Colorado Springs. He acted alone.
According to reports from the Las Vegas Police Department on social network X, Livelsberger committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The soldier was in the car when the gasoline cans and large pyrotechnic mortars exploded in the back.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters that Livelsberger shot himself just before the detonation. A pistol was found at his feet.
It was one of two semi-automatic pistols found in the Cybertruck. The military legally purchased both on December 30. Law enforcement agencies also found a military ID card, passport, iPhone, and credit card in the cargo pickup.
The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people and virtually no damage to the hotel. According to the sheriff, Livelsberger probably planned a more destructive attack, but the steel-sided vehicle took most of the explosive force.
Authorities are still working to determine a motive. At the same time, the FBI said it has not yet found a clear link between the pickup truck attack in New Orleans on New Year's Eve that killed 15 people. And the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas later that day.
Matthew Livelsberger
Leavelsberger was assigned to the Army Special Operations Command and was on approved leave at the time of his death. According to a US official, he had recently returned from an overseas business trip to Germany (he had returned to the United States). Investigators found out that shortly before renting the Cybertruck and buying the weapon, the soldier may have fought with his wife over relationship problems.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, a highly trained special forces unit that combats terrorism abroad and trains partners. He had been in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas deployments, twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia, and Congo.
He was awarded five Bronze Stars in total, including the valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge, and an Army Commendation Medal with valor.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose company produces Cybertruck vehicles, reacted to the incident. He said that the explosion near Trump's hotel could be a terrorist attack.
