The FBI is investigating the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas that occurred early Wednesday. Only the driver was killed, although seven other people suffered minor injuries, in what the FBI is calling a possible act of terrorism. Authorities don’t yet believe that the incident is related to an attack in New Orleans also on New Year’s Day, where someone drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 people and injuring many others.
“We do not believe that there’s a bunch of folks out there supporting this or helping this,” said FBI agent Jeremy Schwartz, per CBS News.
That said, the explosion does seem to be intentional. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said police found gas cans, camp fuel canisters, and firework mortars in the electric truck, which officials say was rented to Matthew Alan Livelsberger, an active duty U.S. Army servicemember on leave in Colorado at the time of the incident.
While McMahill said that police are unsure how everything was ignited, security footage posted to X shows flames erupting from the cab a split second before the bed explodes. After that, you can see fireworks pop off. According to McMahill, the explosion happened approximately 15 seconds after the Cybertruck pulled up to the hotel.
Cybertruck blows up at Trump Tower in Las Vegas @elonmusk @realDonaldTrump @LasVegasLocally @VitalVegas pic.twitter.com/8dZrKbbKYi
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According to the Associated Press, Tesla CEO Elon Musk provided the FBI with security footage from Supercharger stations, mapping its journey into Vegas, where it arrived at about 7:30 a.m. local time. It stopped in front of the Trump Hotel around an hour later. “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself,” said Musk on X.
McMahill credited the Cybertruck’s construction for containing the explosion, per CNN. “The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside of the valet because it had most of the blast. Up through the truck and out,” McMahill said. “You’ll see that the front glass doors at the Trump hotel were not even broken by that blast which they were parked directly in front of.” The Cybertruck’s body panels are made from sheets of stainless steel.
Some reports have placed Livelsberger as the driver who was killed in the blast, though neither the FBI nor Las Vegas police have confirmed this. Like the pickup used in the New Orleans attack, the Cybertruck in Las Vegas was rented via the service Turo, and the suspects in both incidents served in the U.S. Army. According to CBS, one of Livelsberger’s relatives said his wife hadn’t heard from him in days. Thankfully, no one else was killed outside the Trump Hotel. While authorities currently believe the incident was isolated, the investigation is ongoing.
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