Police believe Colorado soldier rented Cybertruck in Denver, shot self before explosion in Las Vegas

DENVER (KDVR) -- Authorities have released new details about the Colorado man who was the suspected driver of a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of the entrance to President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas, killing the driver and injuring seven other people.

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a press conference Thursday that the suspect has not been completely confirmed as his body was "burnt beyond recognition." However, McMahill said investigators tracked Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active-duty Army soldier from Colorado Springs, in numerous photos showing that he was the driver of the Cybertruck. Authorities also said that his military identification, passport and credit cards in his name were found on the body.

In the news conference, McMahill said the coroner's office found that Livelsberger had suffered what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head before the explosion, and a handgun was found at his feet. He added that authorities believe the act was intentional as they also found a bed full of gasoline canisters, firework mortars, a second firearm, fuel enhancers, explosive targets, an iPhone and a smartwatch inside the truck.

Notably, McMahill said investigators are unsure how the ignition happened as they did not find anything that would have been used to ignite the explosion.

In a post on X Wednesday afternoon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the explosion was caused by fireworks or a bomb in the bed of the truck and was unrelated to the vehicle itself. He also said the truck frame remained strong and "directed the blast upwards," minimizing damage.

McMahill added that Musk has provided information to help the investigation.

Cybertruck rented in Denver

Livelsberger rented the Tesla Cybertruck in Denver on Saturday, Dec. 28 through Turo, an app that allows vehicle owners to rent out their cars, according to the sheriff's office.

The sheriff showed a map plotting the vehicle's route, showing that it had been charged in Monument, near Colorado Springs, on Monday. On Tuesday, New Year's Eve, the vehicle was charged in cities along the Interstate 40 corridor in Trinidad, Colorado, Albuquerque, Gallup, New Mexico and Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Before the explosion Wednesday, the sheriff's office said the vehicle was charged in Holbrook, Flagstaff and Kingman in Arizona. The vehicle was seen in surveillance video on the Las Vegas Strip around 7:30 a.m.

McMahill said investigators found camera footage of the truck driving up and down Las Vegas Boulevard for about an hour before pulling into the Trump Hotel entrance and exploding seconds later around 8:40 a.m.

What we know about Matthew Livelsberger of Colorado Springs

Though the suspect's body was "burnt beyond recognition" and his identity has not been 100% confirmed, the sheriff said investigators are confident that the driver was Matthew Livelsberger from Colorado Springs thanks to identifying features like tattoos and a passport and military ID found on the scene.

“There are two tattoos, one of which was on the stomach and one of which is on the arm and we can see bits and places of it as in comparison to what we know he had on his body that has given us a lot of confidence that this is in fact the same person,” McMahill said.

Thursday morning, FBI Denver said in a post on X that the agency, along with the Colorado Springs Police Department and the Denver Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, is "conducting law enforcement activity at a residential address in Colorado Springs" related to the explosion.

Many people who live in the Colorado Springs neighborhood where the search took place were shocked to hear their neighbor had been identified as the suspected bomber. They told FOX31's Vicente Arenas he was often seen walking with his wife, baby and dog.

"When we found out what it was potentially, our mouths (dropped) to the floor shocked. We didn't know what to do," neighbor Keni Mac said.

McMahill said the Department of Defense confirmed that Livelsberger was a Green Beret special operations master sergeant. The Green Berets are described as highly trained special forces who work against terrorism.

An Army spokesperson said that he was on active duty from January 2006 to March 2011 and joined the National Guard from March 2011 to July 2012. Then he was in the Army Reserve until December 2012 when he became an active-duty Army Special Operations soldier.

McMahill said that he spent much of his time at Fort Carson in Colorado and in Germany. He was serving with the 10th Special Forces Group in Germany and was on approved leave in Colorado Springs at the time of the explosion.

Spencer Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI's Las Vegas division, said the motivation behind the attack is unknown, and added that the the investigation extends both domestically and internationally.

"It's a bombing that certainly has factors that raise concern it's not lost on us that it's in front of, you know, 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 that, you know, any of the reasoning behind it," McMahill said.

McMahill said investigators do not believe there is any further threat related to the incident.

Similarities, but 'no definitive link' to New Orleans terrorist attack

Also on Wednesday morning, a driver plowed a rented pickup truck through a crowd in New Orleans, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens of others. The driver was identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas. The FBI believes the act was intentional and that Jabbar acted alone. The FBI said an Islamic State flag was found inside the truck and the incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack.

FBI Deputy Assistant Director Chris Raia said during the press conference Thursday that there is "no definitive link" between the two incidents, although McMahill acknowledged similarities between the two.

"There are a number of things in this case that are similar to the attack in New Orleans. We do know that our subject here served in the military, in fact, he is a current member of the military. Both of the subjects served at Fort Bragg in North Carolina," McMahill said.

The sheriff said Fort Bragg is a very large military base and there is no record that Jabbar and Livelsberger served in the same unit or at the same time, but those details are still being investigated. Additionally, Livelsberger and Jabbar both served in Afghanistan in 2009. However, McMahill said there is no evidence that they were in the same place or same unit, and those details are also under investigation.

The sheriff's office confirmed that both Livelsberger and Jabbar rented the vehicles through the rental company Turo which released the following statement after the incidents:

We are heartbroken by the violence perpetrated in New Orleans and Las Vegas, and our prayers are with the victims and families. We are actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents. 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. We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards in risk management, thanks to our world-class trust and safety technologies and teams that include experienced former law enforcement professionals. Turo Spokesperson

When asked how they will rule in or rule out connections to the incident in New Orleans, McMahill said investigators will work through every tip and every piece of evidence that comes in.

"It's an interesting thing during these kinds of investigations, that if these turn out to be simply similarities — very strange similarities to have and so we're not prepared to rule in or rule out anything at this point, there's lots more for us to do in this investigation," he said.

Multiple agencies are involved in the investigation. The FBI asks anyone who may know anything about the suspect or the incident to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip online.