The truck was rented to Matthew Alan Livelsberger, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News. An Army spokesperson said Livelsberger was on approved leave.
Authorities said Thursday that their investigation into an explosion that rattled the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas and killed one person had narrowed in on a decorated U.S. Army soldier, but that key details including a motive for the incident remained elusive.
At a news conference, officials said that identification belonging to the soldier, Matthew Alan Livelsberger, was found at the scene, where a Tesla Cybertruck burst into flames after an improvised explosive was detonated in the truck’s bed. Livelsberger had rented the Cybertruck through the online platform Turo.
Before the news conference, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News that it was Livelsberger who had died.
Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill acknowledged speculation on social media surrounding Livelsberger, 37, a master sergeant in the U.S. Army’s elite special forces unit and resident of Colorado Springs, but said there was no immediate indication that he was working as part of a larger operation.
“We don’t believe there’s any further threat or anyone associated with him in Las Vegas,” McMahill told reporters.
Authorities said a military ID, a passport and credit cards found at the scene were in Livelsberger’s name, but that the body in the Cybertruck was “burned beyond recognition.” Investigators are still awaiting DNA or medical record confirmation of the body’s identity, but had other evidence indicating Livelsberger had died, including tattoos on the body’s stomach and arms. Authorities also recovered two handguns, including a .50-caliber Desert Eagle and a semiautomatic pistol.