Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside Trump Las Vegas hotel: What we know so far

Authorities are still investigating motive behind blast outside hotel

Investigators inspect the burnt Tesla Cybertruck, which the police say was driven by Matthew Livelsberger, after it exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Reuters

US authorities still have not determined why an active-duty US soldier blew up a rented Tesla Cybertruck he was in outside a Trump-branded hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day.

Here is a look at what is known about the incident so far:

What happened?

The Cybertruck exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on Wednesday, killing the driver and injuring seven bystanders, officials said. Videos taken by witnesses inside and outside the hotel showed the vehicle exploding and flames leaping out of it, as it was parked outside the hotel.

Las Vegas firefighters responded four minutes after the vehicle fire was reported and extinguished it. Two of the injured people were transported to hospitals with minor injuries. The Trump Hotel was evacuated after the incident and most of the visitors were moved to another hotel.

Who was behind the explosion?

The Cybertruck driver was identified as Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty soldier from Colorado Springs, and police said he acted alone.

Mr Livelsberger killed himself with a gunshot before petrol canisters and large firework mortars packed inside the car were detonated, police said, citing the coroner's report and a law enforcement investigation that found a handgun at his feet.

Mr Livelsberger was assigned to the Army Special Operations Command and was on approved leave at the time of his death, an army official said.

A US official told Reuters that Mr Livelsberger had been awarded a Bronze Star for valour and an army commendation for valour, along with a Combat Infantryman Badge. He completed five combat deployments to Afghanistan, the official said.

He was a supporter of president-elect Donald Trump throughout the Republican's political career, seeing him as someone who loves the military, the man told Reuters. “He thought Trump was the greatest thing in the world.”

What was the motive?

Investigators said on Friday Mr Livelsberger had left a note in which he said the act was meant to serve as “wake-up call” for the country’s ills.

"This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake-up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives," he wrote, according to authorities, who released only excerpts of two letters written on a mobile phone note app.

The letters covered a range of topics including political grievances, domestic issues and societal issues, police said.

The Green Beret also wrote that he needed to “cleanse my mind” of people had had lost and “the burden of the lives I took".

Authorities were working to determine what might have precipitated the incident and whether there was any reason the explosion unfolded at a Trump building in a Tesla.

“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front 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,” said Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI’s special agent in charge.

What did Elon Musk say? What did Donald Trump say?

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday that “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”.

He also said “we've never seen anything like this” and called it an act of terrorism.

Mr Musk has recently become a member of Mr Trump’s inner circle and will serve in his next presidential administration. Neither Mr Trump nor Mr Musk was in Las Vegas early on Wednesday. Both had attended Mr Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort.

Is there any connection to the New Orleans attack on New Year's Day?

Federal authorities looked into whether there was a connection between the Las Vegas explosion and the New Orleans car-ramming in the French Quarter during New Year's Day celebrations, which killed 14 people and injured dozens.

“Federal law enforcement and the intelligence community are actively investigating any foreign or domestic contacts and connection that could possibly be relevant to the attack,” President Joe Biden said on Thursday, adding that “as of now they have not found evidence” of a link between the suspects in the two attacks.

The driver in New Orleans was identified as Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, who also served as an active-duty soldier. Authorities believe he acted alone.

Both Mr Livelsberger and Mr Jabbar spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a large army complex in North Carolina that is home to various special operations units. However, one of the officials who spoke to the Associated Press said there was no overlap in their assignments at the base, now called Fort Liberty.