Who is Matthieu Livelsberger? The driver of the Cybertruck explosion was the Green Beret

LAS VEGAS – The driver who died in a possible terrorist attack outside a Las Vegas hotel has been identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active duty member of the United States Army.

According to the Associated Press, Livelsberger was behind the wheel of a rented Tesla Cybertruck that exploded Wednesday at the Trump International Hotel. Seven bystanders were injured, but Livelsberger was the only one dead at the scene.

The pickup truck's bed was filled with fireworks and gas canisters, leading authorities to investigate the explosion, suspecting it to be a terrorist act.

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Who is Matthieu Livelsberger?

What we know: Livelsberger was a 37-year-old man recently from Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to KTNV-TV in Las Vegas, Livelsberger had several addresses in Colorado Springs and FBI agents were searching at least one townhouse there linked to him.

Livelsberger, a U.S. Army master sergeant, served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces that work to combat terrorism overseas and train partners, the Army said in a statement. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks through a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.

He received two Bronze Stars, including one with a symbol of valor for courage under fire, a Combat Infantryman Badge, and an Army Commendation Medal for Valor.

Livelsberger was on authorized leave when he died, according to the release.

Investigators say Livelsberger suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head before the explosion. They recovered several firearms from the Cybertruck, along with his military ID, credit cards and passport.

What we don't know: What would have caused a longtime military veteran to apparently end his life in an explosion at the Trump Hotel?

Investigators said Thursday they weren't sure of the motive, but they hoped Livelsberger's phone and Internet records would turn up some clues.

The FBI was also investigating any possible links between him and the apparent terrorist attack in New Orleans, in which an allegedly radicalized Army veteran surrendered to New Year's revelers, killing 14 people. Both suspects were military personnel who had served in Afghanistan – albeit in different locations and multiple times – and both used the Turo app to rent their vehicles, but beyond that, the agents did not immediately believed in the existence of a link.

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What they say: “We know that we are victims of the bombings. Absolutely. And it's a bomb attack that certainly has factors that give cause for concern. It is not lost on us that it is in front of the Trump building, that it is a Tesla vehicle, but we do not have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests that it was because of this or that particular ideology. , you know, none of the reasons behind it. This is the aim of the investigation we are carrying out: to shed light on what exactly happened, why and how. – Spencer Evans, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Las Vegas Division.

What's next: The FBI continues to investigate Livelsberger's background, both here in the United States and around the world.

Meanwhile, authorities are waiting for DNA and medical records to confirm that Livelsberger's body was the one inside the Cybertruck.

What is a green beret?

“Green Beret” is a term that refers to the elite special operations branch of the United States military. Soldiers are highly trained in the use of “guerrilla and unconventional tactics,” according to the military, and are often experts in a particular culture or country.

The name comes from their unique headgear. U.S. Army Special Forces unofficially adopted the green beret in 1954 after searching for something that would visually distinguish them.