What to know about former Green Beret Matthew Livelsberger linked to Cybertruck explosion

Officials have identified the driver of a Tesla electric truck packed with fireworks and fuel that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, killing the driver and injuring seven others

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said they believe Matthew Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado Springs, was in the driver’s seat when the truck exploded, but his body was not immediately identified . Police said Lifsberger suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound before the explosion. A handgun was found at his feet, police said.

LVMPD Sergeant Kevin McMahill said at a news conference Thursday that a charred body was found in the vehicle, but they were able to identify it based on military identification cards, credit cards and passports found at the scene. identity.

“His body was burned beyond recognition and I still can’t be 100 percent sure that was the person in our car,” McMahill said. “Until we can confirm through DNA or medical records that this was indeed the object in the car, I Won’t be back.”

Officials believe Lifsberger acted alone and his motive remains under investigation.

Las Vegas police said they received a report of an explosion at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas at around 8:40 a.m. on Wednesday. A rented 2024 Tesla Cybertruck exploded near the hotel entrance. and caught fire. Authorities found camp fuel, gasoline cans and pyrotechnic mortars in the truck bed.

Authorities tracked Livelessberg’s movements from Colorado to Las Vegas and determined he rented and drove the Cybertruck alone, McMahill said.

Vehicle traffic near the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

(Ty O’Neill/AP)

Both Lifsberger and New Orleans attack suspect Shamsuddin al-Jabbar served at Ft. Prague, now known as “Ft.” in Liberty, North Carolina, but it’s unclear if they served at the same time or in the same unit. McMahill said the two men had served in Afghanistan in 2009, but officials said there was no evidence they served in the same location or with the same unit in the country. They all use the rental company Turo to rent their vehicles.

Lifsberg served in the U.S. Army as a Green Beret operations sergeant, spending most of his time at Fort Carson, Colorado, and Germany. He was on approved leave in Germany at the time of his death.

McMahill said Lifsberg rented the Cybertruck in Denver on Saturday and charged the vehicle at Tesla charging stations in Colorado and New Mexico. The vehicle was last tracked around 5:33 a.m. Wednesday in Kingman, Arizona, and was first spotted in Las Vegas around 7:29 a.m.

Surveillance footage showed Lifsberger driving into the valet parking area of ​​the Trump Hotel, and the explosion occurred 17 seconds later.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a statement on X that the explosion was caused by “very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in a rented Cybertruck.”

Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the explosion did not cause significant damage to the Cybertruck and “deflated upwards.” It had yet to shatter the glass doors in the lobby of the nearby Trump Hotel; the Cybertruck contained explosives designed to cause a larger explosion.

“The level of sophistication we don’t expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” Cooper said.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Lifsberg has served as U.S. Army Special Forces operations manager since 2006 and transitioned to the role of distal and autonomous systems manager two months ago.

Lifsberg once criticized the withdrawal of US armed forces from Afghanistan in 2021 on his Facebook profile, calling it “the greatest foreign policy failure in US history.”

“Bolton got a bunch of money from the Democratic National Committee and other slimy donors to publish this book,” he wrote in the commentary, referring to former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton and his 2020 A memoir published in the year.

When accused of being a conspiracy theorist, Lifsberg responded: “When it’s clear that someone is making money from Democrats, it’s not a conspiracy.”

In another comment, Berg responded to a woman on Facebook who complained about the sound of fireworks. “It was wonderful to hear the sounds of battle,” he wrote.

A police car approaches the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

(Ty O’Neill/AP)

Elsewhere on Facebook, he posted about his project in a drone interest group. He asked other enthusiasts what parts to use when building their own customized machines.

An Army spokesman confirmed that Lifsberger was on approved leave at the time of his death. He joined the active duty Army in December 2012 and became a Green Beret candidate after serving in the Army Reserves and National Guard.

The agency said in a statement that it is “cooperating fully with federal and state law enforcement agencies but, as a matter of policy, does not comment on ongoing investigations.”

FBI officials in Denver confirmed in a statement that they had begun searching a Colorado Springs home in connection with the case and would be there for several hours.

“This activity is related to the Las Vegas bombing,” the FBI wrote on X.

McMahill said two semi-automatic guns that Lifsberger purchased on Monday were found inside the vehicle. Investigators are looking into how pyrotechnics, gasoline and camping fuel cans in the rear of the vehicle were ignited.

Whether Lifsberg intentionally targeted one of Trump’s properties is also under investigation. Musk is a close adviser to the president-elect.

“It’s not lost on us that in front of Trump Tower, it was a Tesla car, but we have no information at this time that explicitly tells us or suggests that this is because of this particular ideology or any reasoning behind it,” Rath said. said Vegas FBI Special Agent in Charge Spencer Evans.

Staff writers Hannah Fry and Terry Castleman contributed to this report.