Officials say the man who died in the Tesla Cybertruck explosion was an active-duty U.S. Army soldier

The person killed in the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck packed with explosives outside President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas was an active-duty soldier in the US Army, officials said Thursday.

Two law enforcement officials identified the man inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck as Matthew Livelsperger. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Livelsberger was a member of the Army’s elite Green Beret, a special forces unit and guerrilla experts, according to an Army statement. He had served in the military since 2006, rising through the ranks, and was on approved leave when he died, the statement said. Green Berets work to confront terrorists abroad using unconventional techniques.

Livelsberger spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive military base in North Carolina that is home to the Army’s Special Forces Command.

Watch | Tesla Cyber ​​Truck Explosion Left Outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas:

One dead after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas

One person was killed and seven others were injured on Wednesday when a Tesla Cyber ​​Truck that appeared to be carrying fireworks caught fire and exploded at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, authorities said.

The FBI said Thursday in a post on X that it was “conducting law enforcement activity” at a home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, related to Wednesday’s explosion, but did not provide other details.

The explosion of the truck loaded with fireworks mortar shells and camp fuel bombs came hours after Shams al-Din Bahr Jabbar, 42, plowed a truck into a crowd of people in the famous French Quarter in New Orleans early on New Year’s Day, killing 14 people. At least before that. Shot to death by police.

This incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack and police believe the driver was acting alone.

Jabbar, a U.S. Army veteran, spent time at Fort Bragg, now called Fort Liberty, but one official said so far there was no overlap in their duties there.

The two law enforcement officials said the investigation has not yet shown that the incidents in Las Vegas and New Orleans are related, and authorities do not believe the two men knew each other.

Seven people nearby suffered minor injuries when the Tesla truck exploded.

“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by a very large fireworks and/or bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and had nothing to do with the vehicle itself,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday afternoon on X.

“All of the vehicle’s telemetry devices were positive at the time of the explosion,” Musk wrote.

Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Wednesday that authorities know who rented the truck using the Turo app in Colorado.