Driver of Tesla Cybertruck that exploded was a US Army special-ops soldier, reports say
Alcides Antunes/Reuters
- The driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside a Trump hotel has been identified.
- Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado Springs, was the person who died in the blast, the AP said.
- Livelsberger had been an active-duty Army service member for nearly two decades, the US Army told BI.
The driver of the Tesla Cybertruck who died when it exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday has been identified as an active-duty US Army soldier.
Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, rented the electric vehicle and was behind the wheel when it blew up, The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing law enforcement officials and US officials, respectively.
Livelsberger was a master sergeant who served as a special-operations soldier, a US Army spokesperson said in a statement provided to Business Insider.
Livelsberger served in active duty from January 2006 to March 2011, the spokesperson said. After a stint in the National Guard and service in the Army Reserve, Livelsberger returned to active duty in December 2012.
"US Army Special Operations Command can confirm Livelsberger was assigned to the command and on approved leave at the time of his death," the Army spokesperson said. "USASOC is in full cooperation with federal and state law enforcement agencies, but as a matter of policy, will not comment on ongoing investigations."
Livelsberger served in the Army for more than 19 years. A military official told BI that he was an operations sergeant assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group in Germany but was recently on leave at home in Colorado, the official said.
The official added that Livelsberger had a clean record, "by all accounts was great," and that this would have been "out of character" for him.
The FBI said it was searching a home in Colorado Springs on Thursday in connection with the incident, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The FBI and Las Vegas police didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
The Cybertruck had been filled with firework-style mortars and canisters of camping fuel, authorities said Wednesday. The driver was the only person killed, but seven other people were injured.
The vehicle explosion occurred hours after an attacker drove a rented pickup truck through crowds on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. That attack killed 15 people and injured dozens more, and Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, has been identified as a suspect.
Both trucks were rented using the Turo app, and both Livelsberger and Jabbar served in the Army and even spent time at the same military base, sources told Denver7. However, authorities on Thursday said the New Orleans attack appeared to be unrelated to the Cybertruck explosion.
On X, Tesla CEO Elon Musk praised the Cybertruck for limiting the destruction from the blast.
Additional reporting by Ryan Pickrell.