A Tesla Cybertruck exploded this Wednesday, January 1, in front of a hotel owned by Donald Trump located in Las Vegas (Nevada). At this stage of the investigation, the suspect is believed to be a 37-year-old American soldier whose motivations remain unknown.
At a time when the United States was hit by a terrorist attack in New Orleans, leaving at least 14 dead and around thirty injured, an individual caused the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck, injuring seven, in front of a hotel owned by Donald Trump in Las Vegas, Nevada.
If the suspect has not yet been formally identified, the authorities believe that he is a certain Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a 37-year-old soldier, who had a gunshot wound to the head caused before the explosion of the vehicle and whose motivations remain unknown. No link has yet been established between the two events.
DNA tests in progress
“We discovered through the medical examiner’s office that the individual had suffered a gunshot wound to the head before the vehicle exploded,” Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in a news conference, suggesting a potential suicide, but specifying that the body still had to be formally identified through DNA tests.
“The suspect’s motives remain unknown at this stage. We do not have information that allows us to say with certainty or to suggest that it was motivated by a particular ideology,” declared at the same press conference Spencer Evans, special agent of the FBI, the American federal police. .
Member of the special forces since 2012
Matthew Alan Livelsberger was a member of the US Army Special Forces, who was on “approved leave at the time of his death,” a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement. According to this same person, the suspect enlisted in 2006 and served in the army until 2011, before joining the National Guard then the reserve army, and finally joining the special forces in 2012.
-For its part, the American army confirmed the soldier’s death in a press release, without specifying whether it was linked to the Las Vegas explosion. “Army Special Operations Command can confirm that Matthew Alan Livelsberger was assigned to the command and was on leave of absence at the time of his death,” added the US military, specifying that it wished to make “no further comment” on an ongoing investigation.
According to information revealed by the FBI, the suspect was notably identified thanks to tattoos recognized by his wife and identity papers found on site. Other tests, including DNA, are underway to confirm this identification.
no ‘irrefutable link’ to New Orleans terrorist attack
Furthermore, the explosion had similarities with the attack carried out in New Orleans a little earlier in the day on Wednesday, since in both cases it was a symbolic target on New Year’s Day, a truck rented through the Turo website and a suspect with a military background.
Authorities said they were investigating possible links between the two attacks, but repeatedly called the Las Vegas explosion an “isolated incident.” In this regard, the FBI affirmed this Thursday that there was no “irrefutable link” between the two events. However, he warned that the investigation was still in the preliminary stages.
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