Suspect behind Cybertruck that exploded at Trump hotel identified as active-duty US Army soldier

The driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that blew up outside Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on New Year's Day has been identified as active-duty U.S. Army soldier Matthew Livelsberger, The Associated Press is reporting, citing law enforcement officials. 

The officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. Livelsberger, 37, has several addresses associated with him and was on leave from Germany, where he was serving with the 10th Special Forces Group. 

On Wednesday, he reportedly pulled the truck up outside the hotel at around 8:40 a.m. local time, and it exploded about 15 to 20 seconds later. The explosion killed Livelsberger and injured seven others. 

Authorities say the truck contained gasoline and camp fuel containers, as well as large firework mortars. Video of the incident captures the truck exploding in a ball of fire, and fireworks can also be seen going off in all directions. A bystander can also be seen just feet from the truck as it goes up in flames. 

An Army spokesperson told Fox News that Livelsberger began active duty in Army in January 2006 and reached the rank of master sergeant. Livelsberger spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that is home to the Army Special Forces Command.

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Livelsberger joined the National Guard from March 2011 to July 2012, followed by the Army Reserve from July 2012 to December 2012. He began active duty in December 2012 and was a U.S. Army special operations soldier.

Additionally, the U.S. Army Special Operations Command confirmed Livelsberger was on approved leave at the time of his death. 

Records viewed by Fox News Digital show Livelsberger's most recent address as a ⁠⁠U.S. Armed Forces overseas mailing address. Before that, a house in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, is listed, and before that, an apartment in Colorado Springs, Colorado. FBI Denver posted to X on Thursday that they are at a home in Colorado Springs and will remain there for several hours. The investigation is related to the Las Vegas explosion. 

One relative told CBS News that Livelsberger's wife had not heard from him in several days.

Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a press conference on Wednesday that the Cybertruck was rented in Colorado. 

Earlier Wednesday morning, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S.-born citizen who lived in Texas, drove a white pickup truck into a crowd on famed Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 15 people. The FBI has said it is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.

On Thursday, the FBI in Houston said it carried out a court-authorized search and cleared the 12000 block of Crescent Peak Drive in relation to the New Orleans attack. The agency said there is no threat to residents in that area, and it was unable to provide any more details regarding the search due to the "ongoing nature of the investigation."

The truck Jabbar drove was rented from the peer-to-peer car rental company Turo, as was the Cybertruck that burst into flames in Las Vegas. Jabbar’s rented vehicle also donned an ISIS flag on its trailer hitch.

The Cybertruck did not have an ISIS flag like the truck in New Orleans.

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A Turo spokesperson told Fox News Digital the company does not believe either renter in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had criminal backgrounds that would have identified them as a security threat.

Meanwhile, McMahill said that the Cybertruck withstood most of the explosion on Wednesday and was still completely intact afterward.

"The fact that this was a Cybertruck, really limited the damage that occurred inside of the valet because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out," McMahill said. "In fact, if you look on that video, you’ll see that the front glass doors at the Trump hotel were not even broken by the blast."

The preliminary investigation to this point involved input from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who McMahill said gave quite a bit of information about how the vehicle was locked after it exploded because of the force of the explosion.

Musk also helped when it came to capturing surveillance footage from Tesla charging stations across the country.

The billionaire kept followers up to date about the Cybertruck explosion on his social media platform X.

"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. All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion," Musk wrote in one post.

"The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards," he said in another post. "Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken."