Matthew Livelsberger is thought to have killed himself moments before a Tesla Cybertruck he was driving exploded outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Photo / Twitter
Matthew Livelsberger is thought to have killed himself moments before a Tesla Cybertruck he was driving exploded outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Photo / Twitter
Matthew Livelsberger, 37, a highly decorated counter-terrorism Green Beret soldier, is thought to have killed himself seconds before his rented electric vehicle blew up on January 1.
Firework-style mortars, camping fuel and canisters were found in the car. Seven people sustained minor injuries from the explosion.
Kevin McMahill, the Clark County sheriff, said the Tesla driver had “sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle”.
A handgun was found at Livelsberger’s feet and officials believe the shot was self-inflicted.
Livelsberger is understood to have left his home in Colorado Springs the day after Christmas following an argument with his second wife.
Matthew Livelsberger and ex-girlfriend Alicia Arritt, whom the alleged Las Vegas Cybertruck bomber had sent bizarre texts to days before New Year's Day blast. Photo / Facebook
Days later, he got in touch with Alicia Arritt, his former girlfriend, out of the blue. The couple had split up in 2021.
In one text sent on Sunday morning, he wrote: “I rented a Tesla Cybertruck. It’s the s***.”
Minutes later, he messaged again, telling her: “I feel like Batman or [in] Halo.” Halo is a military science fiction video game series.
When asked how fast the Cybertruck was, Livelsberger replied: “Ungodly.”
Arritta, a nurse who has cared for wounded military veterans, told the Denver Gazette that Livelsberger continued to text her until New Year’s Eve, sending photos and videos of the electric vehicle.
He also told her he was “building drones in my new position”, adding: “You would love it.”
Arritt, who dated Livelsberger between his two marriages, said his behaviour changed in 2019 after he returned from a tour in the Middle East with a traumatic brain injury and started to show depressive symptoms.
She said she thinks they went untreated because “it’s not acceptable to seek treatment when someone is in special forces”.
Livelsberger had served in the Army since 2006 and was deployed twice to Afghanistan. He also served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo.
He appears to have been supportive of Ukraine. One picture shows him wearing a T-shirt adorned with the phrase “glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes” written in Ukrainian.
WATCH: The moment a Tesla Cybertruck exploded this morning in front of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/loJtRqYabO
“He loved Trump, and he was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American. It’s one of the reasons he was in special forces for so many years. It wasn’t just one tour of duty.”
Police were initially understood to be investigating whether there was a connection between the exploding Cybertruck and the horrific attack in New Orleans – also on New Year’s Day.
A photo of the military ID belonging to Matthew Livelsberger, who drove the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel. Photo / Getty
The FBI said the New Orleans attack was carried out by a US Army veteran “inspired” by the Islamic State, who had apparently experienced marital and financial difficulties after leaving the military.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, posted a series of online videos in which he proclaimed allegiance to the extremist group before driving a rented pick-up truck into a new year’s crowd on Bourbon St, killing 14, the FBI said Thursday. He was shot dead by the police.
Reports said investigators were exploring whether the two men were connected through their military service.
Both the Cybertruck and the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack were also rented through the car-sharing service Turo.
On Thursday, however, the FBI said there was “no definitive link” between the two men.
“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology, or... any of the reasoning behind it,” Las Vegas sheriff McMahill said.
