Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas investigated as possible act of terrorism

A Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump Towers in Las Vegas early Wednesday, killing one person, in an incident that is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism, according to law enforcement. 

Investigators do not believe there’s “any other danger to the community right now,” FBI agent Jeremy Schwartz said at a news conference Wednesday evening. 

The sole person inside the vehicle died, and seven people suffered minor injuries, Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said. He called the explosion “an isolated incident” and said there is no indication that it was linked to ISIS.

Law enforcement sources told CBS News that the Cybertruck was rented to Matthew Alan Livelsberger, an active duty U.S. Army servicemember who was serving in Germany but was on leave in Colorado at the time of the incident. 

CBS News spoke to two relatives of Livelsberger who were unaware of any involvement in the incident, but who confirmed he had rented a Cybertruck. One relative told CBS News that Livelsberger’s wife had not heard from him in several days.

“We do know who rented the truck. We are looking at that individual,” McMahill said, declining to release a name until officials are certain about the person’s identity. 

The Cybertruck, a 2024 model that had been rented in Colorado, pulled up to the hotel’s glass entrance doors, McMahill said. Smoke began emerging from the vehicle, and then a large explosion occurred. 

Several videos posted on social media showed the blast and the Cybertruck engulfed in flames.

McMahill said gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars were found in the back of the vehicle after the explosion, which occurred about 15 seconds after the vehicle pulled in front of the building. It’s still unclear how the explosives were ignited, he said. 

The sheriff said the Cybertruck arrived in Las Vegas at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning and drove through the Strip before approaching the hotel.

Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley said police and city marshals “will remain on extra alert,” and told people to expect “a significant officer presence on the Strip, in the downtown and throughout the valley for the next 2 days.”

“We do not believe that there’s a bunch of folks out there supporting this or helping this,” Schwartz said. 

The explosion occurred hours after a deadly New Orleans attack, when a man intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 people. The FBI said “weapons and a potential IED,” or improvised explosive device, were found in his vehicle, which was flying an ISIS flag.

Authorities were looking into several odd similarities between the incidents in Las Vegas and New Orleans. In addition to their timing on New Year’s Day, both incidents involved trucks rented from the carsharing app Turo. Both involved U.S.-born military servicemen who served in Afghanistan around the same timeframe.

But two U.S. officials say the military has not yet found any overlap between them at either Fort Bragg or in Afghanistan. They both served there, these officials say, but not at the same time. 

President Biden said Wednesday evening that law enforcement and the intelligence community are investigating whether the Las Vegas blast has any possible connection with the New Orleans attack, but “thus far there’s nothing to report.” 

In a statement, a Turo spokesperson said: “We are actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents. We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat.”

In the past year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become a major donor and close adviser to Trump, with the billionaire tasked to head up Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Musk, along with his co-leader of DOGE, Vivek Ramaswamy, are aiming to cut billions in federal spending.

“[O]bviously a Cybertruck, the Trump Hotel — there’s lots of questions that we have to answer as we move forward with that,” McMahill said.

Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a post on X, Musk said “The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now. Will post more information as soon as we learn anything. We’ve never seen anything like this.”

In another post a few hours later, he said the blast “was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.”

Evacuation at Trump Las Vegas hotel

A county spokeswoman said in a statement that the fire in the valet area of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas was reported at 8:40 a.m. Details about the incident were initially sketchy.

“I know you have a lot of questions,” Jeremy Schwartz, acting FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Las Vegas office, said at the news conference. “We don’t have a lot of answers.”

Eric Trump, one of the president-elect’s sons, posted about the fire on X, saying that an “electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas.” 

Officials urged people to stay away from the area around the Trump Las Vegas hotel, which was evacuated. The 64-story hotel is just off the famed Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping mall.

Tesla introduced its steel-clad, futuristic-looking Cybertruck in 2023, with Musk at the time touting the vehicle’s bullet-proof windows. The all-wheel Cybertruck ranges in price from about $80,000 to $100,000.