It was difficult, at first, for the authorities to identify the driver of the Tesla truck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning. By the time the flames were extinguished, he had been burned beyond recognition.
But as investigators pored over the charred remains of his ruined rented vehicle, a 2024 Cybertruck, they discovered some clues to the driver’s background and his intentions: some guns, a military ID, fuel and many fireworks.
And on Thursday, the authorities said that they had found something else: The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the driver’s head, the county coroner ruled.
“Am I comfortable calling it a suicide mission?” Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in response to a reporter’s question at a Thursday news briefing. “I’m comfortable calling it a suicide, with a bombing that occurred immediately thereafter. I’m not giving it any other labels.”
The authorities identified the driver as Master Sgt. Matthew Alan Livelsberger of the Army and a soldier with the 10th Special Forces Group.
At the briefing, the authorities provided the most detailed glimpse yet into Sergeant Livelsberger’s actions in the days before the truck burst into flames. But they have yet to uncover a reason for the explosion, which left seven people with minor injuries.
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