The soldier who died in the Las Vegas explosion wanted to create a ‘alarm signal’

An Army soldier, who shot himself in the head in a Tesla Cybertruck just before it exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on January 1, left notes saying he was a set-up to serve as a “wake-up call” (wake-up call) to the ills of the country, investigators said on Friday.

Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret from Colorado Springs, Colorado, also wrote in the note that he needed to clean [son] esprit of the lost lives of people he knew and the burden of lives that[il a] taken.

Mr. Livelsberger apparently had no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump, officials with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said.

Although this incident is more public and sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who was battling post-stress syndrome. traumatic and other problems.

The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people, but virtually no damage to the Trump International Hotel. The authorities stressed on Friday that Mr. Livelsberger had acted alone.

It wasn’t a terrorist attack, it was a wake-up call.

Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my message across than a blast with fireworks and explosivesMr. Livelsberger wrote again in the letter found by the authorities who only published extracts.

Investigators identified the driver of the Tesla – who was burned beyond recognition – as Matthew Livelsberger through a tattoo and comparing theADN of members of his family. The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, coroner’s officials said.

Authorities extracted messages from two letters Mr. Livelsberger wrote using a cellphone notes app, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Sheriff Dori Koren said.

The letters covered a range of topics, including political grievances, domestic issues and societal issues, Mr. Koren said.

Tesla engineers helped extract data from the Cybertruck for investigators, including Livelsberger’s journey from charging stations in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona to Las Vegas, Mr. Koren said.

We still have a large volume of data to analyzesaid the deputy sheriff. There are thousands, if not millions, of videos, photos, documents, histories on the internet and all these things that need to be analyzed.

A political message?

The new details came as investigators sought to determine Mr. Livelsberger’s motive, including whether he sought to send a political message with the Tesla and hotel named after the president-elect.

The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, recently became a member of Donald Trump’s inner circle. Neither Donald Trump nor Elon Musk were in Las Vegas early Wednesday, the day of the explosion. Both had attended Donald Trump’s New Year’s party at his South Florida estate.

Investigators have not yet explained how Mr. Livelsberger shot himself in the Cybertruck while simultaneously lighting fireworks and camping fuel packed inside, causing the explosion.

Investigators suspect Matthew Livelsberger planned a more devastating attack, but the steel-sided vehicle absorbed much of the force of the construction explosive.

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Among the charred items found inside were a handgun at Mr. Livelsberger’s feet, another firearm, fireworks, a passport, a military ID card, credit cards, a iPhone and a smart watch, said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally.

A law enforcement official said investigators learned through interviews that he may have had a dispute with his wife shortly before renting the Tesla in Colorado on Saturday and ‘buy the weapons. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Pain and exhaustion

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In recent years, Matthew Livelsberger told Alicia Arritt, a former girlfriend who had served as an Army nurse, that he suffered from significant pain and exhaustion that she attributed to head trauma.

He confided to Ms. Arritt, 39, whom he met and began dating in Colorado in 2018, about exhaustion, the pain that kept him up at night and feeling reliving the violence of her deployment to Afghanistan, Alicia Arritt said.

My life has been personal hell over the past yearhe wrote to her in text messages during their early days of dating.

A highly trained man

Green Berets are highly trained special forces of the United States Army who specialize in guerrilla warfare and unconventional combat tactics.

Matthew Livelsberger had been serving in the Army since 2006. He rose through the ranks and was deployed twice to Afghanistan and served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, according to the Army. He recently returned from an overseas assignment in Germany and was on approved leave when he died, according to a U.S. official.

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

Authorities searched a townhouse in Matthew Livelsberger’s hometown of Colorado Springs on Thursday as part of the investigation. Neighbors said the man who lived there had a wife and baby.

The neighbor across the street, Cindy Helwig, said she last saw him when he asked to borrow a tool to repair a SUV.

He was a normal guytestified Ms. Helwig.

The truck explosion occurred hours after Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, plowed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famous French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least least 14 people before being shot dead by police.

The FBI says he believes Jabbar acted alone and that this is an investigation into a terrorist attack.