Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty Green Beret, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head before a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, police say, as law enforcement investigates the incident as a possible terrorist act.
Key Livelsberger Facts
The Clark County, Nevada, coroner identified Livelsberger, 37, as the driver of the Cybertruck who died by suicide before the explosion, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Livelsberger’s phone was recovered from the aftermath of the explosion and contained notes saying that E.U. was “heading toward collapse” and that Livelsberger chose to carry out the act because he said he “needed to clear my mind of the brothers I have lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took,” according to an LVMPD press conference on Friday.
The notes also said that the event “was not a terrorist attack” and was instead a “wake-up call,” adding that “Americans only pay attention to spectacle and violence.”
Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference that multiple identification documents belonging to Livelsberger were found inside the Cybertruck, including a passport and a military identification card, although law enforcement could not confirm Initially, Livelsberger was the driver because the body found in the accident was “burned beyond recognition.”
Livelsberger was a member of the Army’s Green Beret special forces unit, served at Fort Bragg, deployed twice to Afghanistan and was on leave in Germany at the time of the explosion, McMahill said.
Livelsberger was reportedly awarded five Bronze Stars during his service, including one with a valor device for valor under fire, a combat infantry badge, and an Army Commendation Medal for valor.
Both Livelsberger and Shamsud-Din Jabbar – identified as the suspect who drove into a crowded street in New Orleans also on New Year’s Day, killing at least 14 people – served at Fort Bragg at different periods and were deployed to Afghanistan at the same time. in the 2000s, and McMahill said investigators are working to determine if they were stationed in the same province.
Livelsberger and Jabbar rented their vehicles through Turo, a car-sharing app, although the company said in a statement that neither had criminal records that Turo believes would have flagged them as a “security threat.”
The most important thing
The FBI said the agency’s Denver office and the Colorado Springs Police Department were conducting “police activity” at a Colorado Springs home related to the explosion, although the agency did not include additional details. Investigators also found a second phone in the Cybertruck, although McMahill said they have not been able to access it.
What else is known about Livelsberger?
Livelsberger lived with his wife and daughter in Colorado Springs, according to the Denver Gazette. Alicia Arritt, Livelsberger’s ex-girlfriend, told the outlet that Livelsberger’s attitude and behavior seemed to change in 2019 after he returned from deployment with a traumatic brain injury. He isolated himself and displayed depressive symptoms, which Arritt said were not treated because it is not “acceptable to seek treatment when someone is in the special forces.” Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas field office, said investigators determined Livelsberger likely had post-traumatic stress disorder. Livelsberger sent text messages to Arritt in the days before the explosion, telling him that he had left his home on December 26 after an argument with his wife. He sent photos of his rented Cybertruck to Arritt, telling him on December 29, “I feel like Batman or Halo.” None of the messages sent by Livelsberger before New Year’s Day suggested he would carry out the explosion, Arritt told the Gazette.
Where did Matthew Livelsberger travel from?
According to McMahill, Livelsberger picked up his rental Cybertruck in Denver on December 29, before driving south. He loaded the truck on December 30 in Monument, Colorado, before loading it several times on New Year’s Eve, including stops in Trinidad, Colorado, and Las Vegas, New Mexico, where it began traveling west. That day he stopped twice more in Albuquerque (New Mexico) and Gallup (New Mexico). On New Year’s Day, Livelsberger loaded the Cybertruck in Holbrook and Flagstaff, Arizona, before arriving in Las Vegas, Nevada, shortly before 5:33 a.m. local time.
What was found inside the Cybertruck?
A handgun and a semi-automatic rifle were found inside the vehicle, and law enforcement determined that both had been legally acquired by Livelsberger, according to Kenneth Cooper, assistant special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and San Francisco Explosives. The gun was found at the feet of the person inside the truck, according to McMahill. Aerial projectiles, pyrotechnic mortars, camp fuel canisters and fuel boosters were also found.
What caused the Cybertruck explosion?
Authorities stated on January 7 that the explosion was caused by fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel that Livelsberger detonated using a device. A car bomb or improvised explosive device was used to blow up the cybertruck, Sheriff’s Deputy Dori Koren said, citing footage confirming that Livelsberger “prepared and staged this planned attack.”
How did Livelsberger plan the explosion?
Livelsberger used ChatGPT to help plan the explosion, which included questions about how to assemble an explosive, how fast a bullet would have to be fired for the explosive to ignite and what laws he would have to circumvent to acquire the materials to create the explosive, McMahill said Tuesday. . It’s unclear what answers Livelsberger received when he asked the chatbot. ChatGPT developer OpenAI told CNN that the company is “saddened by this incident and committed to the responsible use of AI tools” (OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes).
Was the explosion related to the New Orleans attack?
The FBI found “no definitive link” between the Cybertruck explosion and the New Orleans attack, as investigations into the incidents are in their early stages. Turo said he was not aware of any information indicating the two incidents were related. There is no indication that the explosion has connections to ISIS like the New Orleans attack, where the FBI said it found an ISIS flag, McMahill added.
What is known about Matthew Livelsberger’s motives?
McMahill said shortly after the explosion that the incident was under investigation as a possible terrorist attack, adding that he was “comfortable” calling the incident a “suicide, with an attack occurring immediately afterward.” Koren said police found a six-page “manifesto” on Livelsberger’s cell phone detailing “political and social and cultural issues to include criticism.” From the current administration, in addition to internal issues in the days before the explosion.
Livelsberger also wrote that he was high and had been drinking, though investigators are working to confirm that, Koren said. Evans said it is “not lost on us” that the incident took place in front of the Trump hotel and involved a vehicle developed by Tesla, whose CEO, Elon Musk, has become an increasingly close Trump ally. After Livelsberger’s phone notes were discovered, Evans suggested there were possible “family issues or personal grievances in his own life that could have been contributing factors” to the incident.
A conspiracy theory shared by billionaire Bill Ackman claimed that Livelsberger had been framed for the explosion and had been shot by another person, and that the Cybertruck’s Autopilot function had then been used to drive the vehicle to the hotel.
However, Musk shot down this theory, stating that the Autopilot feature would not work unless it detected an “attentive” person in the front seat. One of Livelsberger’s relatives appeared to suggest to CNN that the explosion was not politically motivated even though the incident took place outside President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel, saying that Livelsberger had previously written messages on social media supporting Trump. .
One of Livelsberger’s military colleagues told CNN they were surprised by the incident, saying Livelsberger’s unit was often tasked with removing improvised explosive devices. The colleague also suggested that Livelsberger never indicated he was fighting during his deployment to Afghanistan or after returning home, and that Livelsberger would have had “his choice of career field when he leaves the military.”
What has Elon Musk said about the Cybertruck explosion?
Musk said the company had confirmed that the explosion was caused by “very large fireworks” or an explosive in the bed of the Cybertruck, later saying that law enforcement believes the explosion was “most likely intentional.” Musk – echoing a statement from McMahill – suggested that the Cybertruck had “contained” the explosion and “directed the shock wave upward,” preventing further damage to the hotel. He added that the incident was likely an act of terrorism, noting that both the Cybertruck and the truck used in the New Orleans attack were rented through Turo (the FBI said investigators are trying to determine whether the incident was an act of terrorism). terrorism).
Key background
A Tesla Cybertruck parked in front of the Trump International Hotel exploded around 8:40 a.m. local time on New Year’s Day, killing at least one person and injuring seven others. McMahill said the truck appeared to contain gasoline, camping fuel canisters and “large fireworks mortars,” although it was not immediately clear how the truck caught fire.
Early this morning, a rented Ford pickup truck plowed into a crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens more. The suspect, later identified as Jabbar, 42, was flying an ISIS flag in the vehicle and was carrying other weapons and possible improvised explosive devices, according to the FBI. Jabbar acted alone, according to the agency, which described the attack as a terrorist act.
This article was originally published on Forbes US.
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