US police are looking for clues to unravel the mystery behind the Tesla vehicle that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas earlier this week, injuring seven people.
The man who rented the Cybertruck – then drove it into town and parked it outside the hotel – has been identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active-duty U.S. Special Forces soldier.
Police found his lifeless body in a burned-out Tesla with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They also found fuel tanks and more than a dozen fireworks mortars in the bed of the vehicle.
On Thursday, an increased police presence remained at the hotel, located just off a busy street in Las Vegas. Yellow police tape cordoned off a small section of the hotel’s entrance as employees worked to repair damage to the facade.
Authorities continue to work and gather information, and many questions remain.
For example, it’s unclear why Livelsberger rented the car — or whether the perpetrator intended to make a political statement ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House later this month.
Why did Livelsberger drive to Las Vegas?
One of the biggest unanswered questions is why Livelsberger rented a Tesla and drove more than 800 miles (1,300 km) from Colorado to Las Vegas.
Las Vegas police said he rented the vehicle on Dec. 28 in Denver. They were able to track its movement using photos captured on the disc and information from Tesla’s charging technology. He was the only one seen driving it, they said.
The vehicle arrived in the city on Wednesday morning, less than two hours before the explosion, police said.
Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Thursday that a body was found in the vehicle. He was burned beyond recognition, but the county coroner used DNA and dental records to confirm that Livelsberger was in the Cybertruck at the time of the explosion. He was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
“I can’t call it a suicide with the bombing that happened right after,” Sheriff McMahill said. He added that the motive of the incident has not been determined.
Was the explosion supposed to be a political statement?
Another big question is whether the blast was intended as a statement ahead of the change of US president later this month.
Police found no evidence linking the alleged perpetrator to any particular political beliefs, but said they were investigating whether the incident was linked to the fact that President-elect Donald Trump owns a hotel or that Elon Musk runs Tesla.
Trump recently named Musk co-head of the presidential advisory commission, the Department of Government Efficiency, after the two became close during Trump’s campaign.
“We have not forgotten that it is in front of the Trump building and that it is a Tesla vehicle,” Spencer Evans, an FBI agent based in Las Vegas, said Thursday.
“But at this point we don’t have information that definitively tells us or suggests that (the incident) was due to a particular ideology,” he said.
Was it related to the New Orleans attack?
The explosion came just hours after a man drove his pickup truck into New Year’s revelers on crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more.
That attacker has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old American citizen who also served in the US military.
President Joe Biden said investigators are looking into whether the two incidents are related, although nothing has been discovered so far to suggest that is the case.
But the question continues to be fueled by the obvious similarities between the two incidents and some biographical details of the drivers of both vehicles.
Both incidents occurred in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day. Both have served in the US armed forces – including at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in North Carolina – and both completed tours in Afghanistan. Both also rented the vehicles they used through a mobile car rental app called Turo.
However, police said there was no evidence the two men were in the same unit or served at the same time at Fort Liberty. Although both were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, there is no evidence that they served in the same province, city or unit.
In the New Orleans attack, police recovered an Islamic State (IS) flag from a vehicle used by Jabbar. They added that he posted the videos on social media moments before claiming his loyalty to the group. Police determined that Jabbar acted alone.
Meanwhile, there is no evidence in Las Vegas to suggest that Livelsberger was motivated by IS, or that he and Jabbar were ever in contact. The police warned that the investigation is still ongoing.
What is Livelsberger’s background?
Livelsberger was a decorated Special Forces intelligence sergeant serving in Germany but was on authorized leave at the time of the incident.
His father told the BBC’s American partner CBS News that his son was in Colorado to see his wife and eight-month-old daughter.
He said the last time he spoke to his son was at Christmas and that everything seemed normal to him.
The Daily Beast reported that Livelsberger was a “big” Trump supporter. A senior law enforcement official who spoke with Livelsberger’s family told the paper that Livelsberger voted for Trump in the November election.
His uncle told The Independent that Livelsberger loved Trump “and was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American.”
