Details have started to emerge about the man killed in the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.At a news conference on Thursday, Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said that the coroner’s office suggested man died by suicide before the blast.
“The individual had sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle,” McMahill told reporters. He added that a handgun was found at the man’s feet.
Earlier in the day, news agencies including The Associated Press and AFP identified the man as an active-duty soldier named Matthew Livelsberger.
Citing unnamed military officials, the news outlets explained that Livelsberger was on leave from his post with the United States Army Special Operations Command.
He was a highly decorated Green Beret who had served in various roles with the US military since 2006, with stints in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Tajikistan, among other locations.
But on Wednesday, Livelsberger was allegedly found dead inside the Tesla Cybertruck burning on the circular driveway outside the hotel’s glass front doors. Advertisement
Seven other people were wounded when the Cybertruck exploded, and details remain scarce about the circumstances surrounding the blast.
Kenny Cooper, a special agent for the the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, expressed surprise that a military member was involved in the explosion, which did little damage except to the Cybertruck.
“The level of sophistication is not what we wou …
