Elite soldier found shot after attack

New Orleans
37-year-old elite soldier named as suspect in cybertruck attack

Nora Fernstedt,

Wayne Seretis

Published 2025-01-02 17.03

Elite soldier Matthew Livelsberger, 37, is named as suspect in the cybertruck attack in Las Vegas, writes Newsweek.

According to the police, he shot himself before the explosion.

Now it is also being investigated whether he has connections to the suspected terrorist attack in New Orleans.

Hours after the suspected terrorist attack in New Orleans, where 15 people died, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside future President Donald Trump's luxury hotel in Las Vegas.

The person driving the car died in the explosion, and at least seven people at the hotel were injured.

37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger is now being named as a suspect in the attack by several American media outlets, including Newsweek.

The FBI also announced at a press conference that they suspect Livelsberger, but are waiting for DNA results because the body was so badly burned.

Police: “Suicide”

Livelsberger is a former elite soldier who served in the Green Berets.

The man had a gunshot wound to the head that police suspect was self-inflicted.

“I feel comfortable calling it a suicide, with a bombing that occurred immediately afterward,” said Kevin McMahill, Las Vegas police chief, at a press conference on Thursday.

Police also found two semi-automatic weapons in the exploded car.

Elite soldier Matthew Livelsberger, 37, is being named as a suspect in the cybertruck explosion outside Trump's hotel in Las Vegas. Photo: Linkedin

Livelsberger reportedly lived in Colorado Springs, and according to local media, FBI investigators conducted a search of a residential area in the city on Thursday.

At least two connections are now being investigated between the cybertruck attack and the suspected terrorist attack in New Orleans.

- It's a Tesla truck, and we know that Elon Musk worked with future President Trump, and this is Trump Tower, so there are definitely things that are concerning here, and that's something we're looking at, Police Chief Kevin McMahill told the Las Vegas Review.

           

           

         

         It was a cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas.
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In one case, American media reports that there may be a military connection between the men. NBC reports that an authority source says that their military careers may have "overlapped" each other and that it's something that's being investigated.

The second connection is that the vehicles in both New Orleans and Las Vegas were rented through the app Turo.

Kevin McMahill says at a press conference that they know who rented the cybertruck but that they do not want to release any names until they know if it is the same person who died in the explosion, writes the news agency AP.

– We have not found any connection to IS or any other terrorist organization, McMahill tells NBC.

The car used in the attack in New Orleans was a rental car.

The car used in the attack in New Orleans was a rental car. Photo: Gerald Herbert / AP

Previously, President Biden confirmed that the authorities are investigating a possible connection between the attacks.

“Law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community are also investigating this, including whether there is any possible connection to the attack in New Orleans,” Biden says according to NBC.

However, the FBI's agent in charge plays down the connection between the events at the press conference in Las Vegas.

"We believe this is an isolated incident," FBI Agent Jeremy Schwartz told NBC.