Driver of Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas blast identified as US army veteran
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Man who died in explosion that injured seven outside Trump hotel served over 19 years in military. The driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that caught fire and exploded in Las Vegas outside one of the hotels in Donald Trump’s business empire has been identified as Matthew Livelsberger, a US army veteran from Colorado Springs, Colorado, who died in the incident.
![[Footage shows Tesla packed with fireworks and gas canisters outside Trump hotel – video]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f7b37fe550ccb6bb2eef75f78404b8904022e162/0_0_1920_1080/1920.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Livelsberger, 37, was killed in the explosion, while seven bystanders were wounded. The military veteran, identified by Denver’s KOAA and KTNV media outlets, was behind the wheel of the electric-powered truck, which investigators soon after discovered was packed with fireworks-style mortars, camping fuel and gas canisters when it exploded on Wednesday morning.
Law enforcement sources confirmed to local news outlets that the electric vehicle was rented from Turo, the vehicle-sharing service that was also used in the New Orleans attack the same day. There, suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar used the Turo app to rent an electric Ford pickup truck used in that attack in the early hours of New Year’s Day, which killed 15 and injured dozens more.
News station Denver 7 cited law enforcement sources on Thursday that Livelsberger and Jabbar had served at the same military base – a possible connection the US army has not independently confirmed to the Guardian. Authorities were investigating the link as a possible connection between the two New Year’s Day attacks, those sources told the outlet.
In a national address on Wednesday, Joe Biden said that ongoing investigations into the New Orleans attack were “fluid”. The president added that law enforcement officials were investigating whether the Bourbon Street attack was related at all to the Las Vegas Tesla vehicle explosion.
