((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
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One person on board cyber truck killed, seven injured in explosion
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FBI says Colorado Springs home search linked to explosion
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Incident occurred hours after man drove truck into crowds in New Orleans
(Media identifies man inside truck in paragraphs 1 and 3, FBI says no definitive link between Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks in paragraph 2, Livelsberger and the Colorado searches in paragraphs 5-9) by Ronda Churchill, David Shepardson and Karen Brettell
The FBI said Thursday that it has so far found no definitive link between the New Year’s Day truck bombing in New Orleans, which left 15 dead, and the explosion of a Tesla cybertruck in Las Vegas that killed the driver, who authorities identified as an active-duty U.S. Army soldier.
The Las Vegas explosion outside the Trump International Hotel resulted in the death of the lone occupant of the truck and minor injuries to seven people, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement. .
Law enforcement identified the man inside the Tesla Cybertruck as Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty U.S. Army soldier, the Associated Press and other media outlets reported Thursday.
The FBI identified the person who was driving the Cybertruck but was not prepared to release that information, Jeremy Schwartz, FBI special agent in charge, told reporters Wednesday. The FBI did not respond to a request for additional information Thursday.
Mr. Livelsberger was assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and was on authorized leave at the time of his death, a U.S. Army official said. The U.S. Army Special Operations Command would not comment on the ongoing investigation, a spokesperson said.
Livelsberger was on active duty from January 2006 to March 2011 and later served in the National Guard and Army Reserve before returning to active duty in December 2012 as a U.S. Army Special Operations Soldier, according to a US Army official.
-Livelsberger does not appear to have a criminal record. It has been linked to addresses in Colorado Springs since 2013.
Authorities said Wednesday that the Tesla Cybertruck was rented outside of Colorado. FOX21 in Colorado reported a law enforcement presence at a townhouse complex in a Colorado Springs neighborhood late Wednesday night.
The FBI’s Denver office said Thursday that a search of a Colorado Springs residential address by federal and local authorities was linked to the Las Vegas explosion.
Videos taken by witnesses inside and outside the Las Vegas hotel showed the vehicle exploding and flames shooting from it while it was outside the hotel. hotel around 8:40 a.m. local time (1640 GMT) on Wednesday.
A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Thursday on the Cybertruck incident. Eric Trump praised Las Vegas firefighters and law enforcement for their quick response to the explosion.
MANY QUESTIONS The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is part of the Trump Organization, the company of President-elect Donald Trump, who will return to the White House on January 20. Tesla TSLA.O Chief Executive Elon Musk was a key supporter of Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign and is also an adviser to the future president.
“Obviously a Cybertruck, the Trump Hotel — there are a lot of questions we need to answer,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference.
Police said the truck arrived in Las Vegas around 7:30 a.m. and drove across the Strip, lined with hotels and casinos, to the Trump Hotel, where it stopped in the valet area. The Trump Hotel was evacuated after the explosion and most of its visitors were moved to another hotel.
“Detectives found cans of gasoline and large fireworks mortars in the bed of the truck,” a police statement said.
Mr. Schwartz, the FBI special agent in charge of the case, said it was not yet certain whether the explosion was a terrorist act.
Musk, in a post on not linked to the vehicle itself”
Both the Cybertruck and the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack were rented through the ride-sharing service Turo, McMahill said.
A Turo spokesperson said the company did not believe the renters of the vehicles involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had criminal histories that would have identified them as a security threat.
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