Authorities investigating the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day said Thursday that evidence shows the driver shot himself in the head before the explosion.
Police also identified Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active duty member of the Army Special Forces, as the driver of the Cybertruck. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the county coroner had determined he died by suicide.
The Cybertruck had been rented in Denver by Livelsberger, the police department’s Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a briefing earlier Thursday.
Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s office in Las Vegas, said during the briefing that authorities weren’t tracking any additional subjects in the investigation.
Livelsberger was the only person in the vehicle when it went up in flames. He is also the only person known by police to have been inside the 2024 model Cybertruck since it was rented, according to the sheriff. The condition of the body prevented law enforcement from making a definitive identification until they received dental records and DNA test results.
“His body is burnt beyond recognition,” McMahill said. Investigators said Livelsberger’s military ID, passport and credit cards were found in the vehicle, along with several firearms.
Law enforcement sources said Livelsberger was stationed in Germany but was on leave in Colorado when the blast occurred.
