A decorated U.S. Army soldier has been identified as the person who was killed by an explosion in a Tesla Cybertruck outside the entrance of the Trump hotel in Las Vegas, two senior law enforcement officials said Thursday.
The vehicle, which erupted into flames early Wednesday outside the Trump International Hotel, was rented to Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a master sergeant in the U.S. Army’s elite special forces unit, officials previously told NBC News.
An Army spokesperson said Livelsberger was on approved leave and assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. He entered the active-duty Army in December 2012 and was a Green Beret candidate after serving in the National Guard and the Army Reserve.
Meanwhile, federal law enforcement agents began searching a residence in Colorado Springs, Colorado, connected with the case and were expected to be on-site for several hours, the agency said in a statement.
“This activity is related to the explosion in Las Vegas,” the FBI said on X, declining to provide further details.
The incident is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, three senior law enforcement members said.
A motive has yet to be established, but the blast came just hours after a driver in a rented pickup truck plowed into New Year’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 14 and injuring more than 30 others before being shot dead by police. A flag of the Islamic State terrorist group was found in the back of the vehicle.
The driver in New Orleans was identified Wednesday as a U.S. Army veteran from Texas, and officials said he acted as a lone wolf.
Livelsberger’s long military career included deployments to the Republic of Congo in 2014, Ukraine in 2016, Tajikistan in 2016 and Afghanistan in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The military gave him several honors, including multiple Bronze Star medals and at least one with valor, meaning he saw combat and deserved merit.
Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters Wednesday that the pickup truck and the Tesla in the Las Vegas explosion were rented from the same company, Turo.
“I don’t know,” McMahill said when asked whether the two incidents are connected. “But we are investigating whether there is any connectivity.”
Federal officials said Thursday they had not determined any association between the events.
“At this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas,” Chris Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, told reporters during a news conference updating on the investigation into the New Orleans attack.
McMahill had declined to name the person who rented the car but told reporters they had found no immediate link with ISIS or any other terrorist organization.
Jeremy Schwartz, the FBI’s acting special agent in charge of the investigation, said it appeared the incident was isolated.
Turo said in a statement it is assisting investigators.
“We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat,” the statement said.
The explosion was reported at about 8:40 a.m. local time, police said. Seven bystanders were also hurt, but their injuries were considered minor.
