Americas

Driver of exploding Cybertruck outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas suffered gunshot wound: Authorities

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill says Matthew Livelsberger 'sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle'

Rabia Iclal Turan  | 02.01.2025 - Update : 03.01.2025
Driver of exploding Cybertruck outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas suffered gunshot wound: Authorities

WASHINGTON

The driver of a Cybertruck suffered a gunshot wound to his head before the vehicle exploded outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, according to authorities.

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill identified the driver as Matthew Livelsberger during a news conference, stating he “sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle.”

Asked if he is comfortable calling the attack a suicide mission, he said: “I'm comfortable calling it a suicide with the bombing that occurred immediately thereafter. I'm not giving it any other labels.

"We're not aware of any other subjects involved in this particular case," he added.

Addressing reports about potential links between the Las Vegas suspect and the suspect in a New Orleans attack earlier New Year’s Day, he said both served at the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina.

He added, however, that it is a "very large military base," and there is "no record" that they served in the same unit or even at the same years at Fort Bragg, something, he said, that "continues to remain under investigation."

McMahill indicated that both suspects were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, but there is no evidence they were in the same province, location, or unit during the deployment.

"We also know, of course, that they both used the rental company, Turo, to rent their vehicles," he added.

The FBI said there is "no definitive link” between the deadly New Orleans attack and the vehicle explosion outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas.

Livelsberger served also as a Green Beret operations sergeant who spent most of his time at Fort Carson, Colorado, and in Germany, according to the sheriff.

"He was also previously in the National Guard and the Army Reserve," he added.

In the French Quarter attack in New Orleans, a driver intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street. The suspect was identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a native of the state of Texas, according to the FBI.

McMahill addressed the “very strange similarities” between the two incidents. “We're not prepared to rule in or rule out anything at this point, there's lots more for us to do in this investigation.”

“We haven't even gotten into the phones or the computers, which are usually very, very instructive and informative to us as we investigate. And we've got a lot more work to do to trace him (Livelsberger),” he added.

FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans said officials are still investigating the motivation behind the Las Vegas explosion --- their “number one priority.”

“This is why the FBI is Joint Terrorism Task Force has been brought into play,” he added.

Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
Related topics
Bu haberi paylaşın