The person inside the Tesla Cybertruck that burst into flames outside US president-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel suffered a gunshot to the head before the explosion, officials said on Thursday.
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Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference that a handgun was found at the feet of the man who has been identified as Matthew Livelsberger. Officials believe the shot was self-inflicted.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the Army said in a statement. He had served in the US Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.
He was awarded two Bronze Stars, including one with a valour device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valour. Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died, according to the statement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Thursday in a post on X that it was “conducting law enforcement activity” at a home in Colorado Springs related to Wednesday’s explosion but provided no other details.
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The explosion of the truck, packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, came hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing 14 people before being shot to death by police.
That crash was being investigated as a terrorist attack. The FBI said on Thursday that they believe Jabbar acted alone, reversing its position from a day earlier that he probably worked with others.