Matthew Livelsberger has been named in reports as the suspect found dead inside an explosives-filled Tesla Cybertruck that blew up outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel on Wednesday, New Year’s Day 2025.
Colorado Springs station KOAA and the New York Post have reported that Livelsberger, a 37-year-old former Army veteran, is the suspect, citing unnamed law enforcement sources.
There have been a number of posts on social media that identify social media accounts, purportedly linked to Matt Livelsberger, that reveal details about his life.
Newsweek has reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via email for comment.
The Context
One person died and seven more were injured after the explosion cause fire to erupt in the valet area outside the Trump International Hotel at Las Vegas Boulevard at around 8:40 a.m. local time, according to authorities. The dead person was said to have been behind the wheel of the vehicle that exploded.
Police have yet to determine what caused the incident and are investigating whether it was an act of terrorism.
What We Know
There are three social media accounts in question: a LinkedIn account linked to Matt Livelsberger, a Facebook account linked to a Matt Berg, and a Facebook account linked to what appears to be a wife or girlfriend of Livelsberger, named Sara Livelsberger.
Newsweek has not been able to independently verify the veracity of these accounts.
According to the social media profiles which appear to belong to Livelsberger and his partner, he was a former veteran from Colorado Springs.
According to the profile on LinkedIn, Livelsberger was an operations director and intelligence manager. He worked in the U.S. Army for over 19 years.
He began as a special forces communications specialist, a role he held for nine years. He then became a special forces intelligence and operations specialist, a role he had for seven years.
Livelsberger then became a special forces operations manager and team sergeant, a role he held for a little under two years, before becoming a remote and autonomous systems manager in November.
He studied at Norwich University in Vermont, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Strategic Studies and Defense Analysis, and graduated summa cum laude.
According to LinkedIn, he received a State Meritorious Honor Award from the Department of State.
Livelsberger was active on LinkedIn, and often commented on posts from colleagues in the military. In a comment on one post about student debt, he responded to a question asking who was responsible for debts saying, “The govt.”
The LinkedIn profile also lists that he was interested in human rights and animal welfare.
Although all three of the profiles have been shared on social media, there are discrepancies. The Matt Berg profile has a different surname, and the man in the pictures on the profile looks different from the man in the pictures on the Matt Livelsberger LinkedIn account, and the Sara Livelsberger Facebook page.
The details on the Sara Livelsberger page and the Matt Livelsberger LinkedIn match up. A post on Sara Livelsberger Facebook page from 2015 reads: “It is my old ass husbands’s 28th birthday!” This aligns with Livelsberger’s reported age of 37 now.
The Facebook account for Sara Livelsberger posted many pictures of Matt Livelsberger, and many posts spoke about their relationship. The last post on this account was from May, 2016.
An account on X, formerly Twitter, also belonged to a Sara Livelsberger. It has not been posted on since 2015. As such, it is unclear whether Sara Livelsberger, who appeared to be the wife or girlfriend of Matt Livelsberger, is still connected to him.
In posts shared on Sara Livelsberger’s Facebook account, Matt Livelsberger is seen going out to rock music concerts, holidaying in Puerto Rico and spending time with dogs.
Images from LinkedIn and Facebook show Mathew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old former army veteran who has been named in reports as the suspect in the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion. On January 1, 2025, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in Las Vegas, leaving one dead and seven injured.
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Matthew Livelsberger/Linkedin Sarah Livelsberger/Facebook
Livelsberger reportedly died in the blast.
The suspect is believed to have rented the Tesla Cybertruck via the carsharing company Turo in Colorado.
ABC affiliates have reported that multiple addresses have been associated with the alleged suspect, and the FBI are awaiting a search warrant for one of the residences.
Images from Sara Livelsberger’s Facebook show Mathew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old former army veteran who has been named in reports as the suspect in the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion. On January 1, 2025, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in Las Vegas, leaving one dead and seven injured.
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Sara Livelsberger/Facebook
What People Are Saying
Las Vegas County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in a news conference on Wednesday: “At this time, we are investigating a number of leads, and I’m not prepared to release any of that information to you just yet. I can tell you that there are seven victims right now that sustained injuries from the explosion.”
Jeremy Schwartz, acting FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Las Vegas office, at a news conference: “I know you have a lot of questions.”
“We don’t have a lot of answers,” he added.
What’s Next
The Las Vegas police announced they are investigating the fire and explosion. At Wednesday’s news conference, Schwartz confirmed that the FBI is also involved in the investigation.
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