An Army soldier from Colorado killed himself before his rented Cybertruck exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, authorities said Thursday.
Las Vegas police said multiple pieces of evidence suggest Matthew Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado Springs, was the driver who shot himself in the head in the Cybertruck shortly before the vehicle exploded and injured seven bystanders.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said the driver’s body was “burnt beyond recognition,” but said Mr. Livelsberger’s passport, military identification and credit cards were found in the decimated electric truck.
Police said all the bystanders are expected to survive the explosion, the cause of which is still unclear.
Sheriff McMahill said the vehicle’s “detonation” came seconds after Livelsberger mortally wounded himself. Firework mortars and camp fuel canisters were inside the Cybertruck when it went up in flames.
Law enforcement said Livelsberger had no criminal record and no known ties to foreign terror groups.
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They also said there’s no indication the explosion was connected to the ISIS-inspired terror attack launched hours earlier in New Orleans that left 14 dead in addition to the perpetrator, and dozens more injured.
“We believe this is an isolated incident,” said Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge for the FBI’s Las Vegas office. “We do not believe that there is a bunch of folks out there supporting this or helping this and we don’t believe that there’s any other danger to the community right now.”
Federal authorities said Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan and Army veteran, carried out the attack in New Orleans by mowing down multiple New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street.
Jabbar was shot dead by police after trading gunfire with officers early Wednesday.
Officials said Thursday he acted alone in his rampage. Jabbar had an ISIS flag on the back of his rented pickup truck, and pledged his allegiance to the Islamic terror group in videos posted online minutes before the carnage began.
Authorities were looking into a potential link between Livelsberger and Jabbar, given the short time between their respective incidents, the fact they both rented electric trucks from rental provider Turo, and their overlapping experience in the Army.
Livelsberger was an active-duty Green Beret special operations master sergeant, while Jabbar worked in Human Resources and IT roles from 2008 to 2015.
“Both of the subjects served at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. What we do know about that is that it’s a very large military base and we have no record that they served in the same unit or even the same years,” Sheriff McMahill said Thursday. “I also know that they served in Afghanistan in 2009. We don’t have any evidence they were in the same province, the same location, or the same unit.”
Las Vegas police said Livelsberger rented the Cybertruck in Denver on Dec. 28. He arrived in Las Vegas at about 7 a.m. on Wednesday and went through the Trump International Hotel’s driveway entrance.
The soldier left the hotel premises, idled in another parking lot for a period of time, and then returned at about 8:40 a.m. The explosion erupted seconds later.
Livelsberger was on leave from Germany when the incident took place.
Federal authorities raided a townhome in Colorado Springs late Wednesday believed to be connected to Livelsberger. The results of that search haven’t been shared at this time.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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