Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion at Trump hotel leaves unanswered questions

US authorities are searching for clues to unravel the mystery behind the Tesla vehicle that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas earlier this week, causing minor injuries to seven people.

The man who rented the Cybertruck, then drove it into town and parked it in front of the hotel, has been identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active-duty US special forces soldier.

Police found his lifeless body inside the charred Tesla with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They also found fuel canisters and more than a dozen pyrotechnic mortars in the bed of the vehicle.

On Thursday, there remained a heightened police presence at the hotel, located just off the busy Las Vegas strip. Yellow police tape cordoned off a small section of the hotel’s entrance as employees worked to repair damage to the facade.

Authorities continue to work and gather information, and many questions remain.

For example, it is unclear why Livelsberger rented the car or whether the author intended to make a political statement before Donald Trump’s return to the White House later this month.

One of the biggest unanswered questions is why Livelsberger rented the Tesla and drove it more than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) from Colorado to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas police said he rented the vehicle on Dec. 28 in Denver. They were able to track their movements using photographs taken along the way and information from Tesla’s charging technology. He was the only one seen driving it, they said.

The vehicle arrived in the city Wednesday morning, less than two hours before the explosion, police said.

Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Thursday that a body was recovered inside the vehicle. He was burned beyond recognition, but the county coroner used DNA and dental records to confirm that Livelsberger had been inside the Cybertruck at the time of the explosion. He was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

“I’m comfortable calling it a suicide with an attack that occurred immediately afterward,” Sheriff McMahill said. He added that no motive for the incident has been established.

Another big question is whether the explosion was a statement before the change of US president later this month.

Police have not found any evidence linking the alleged perpetrator to specific political beliefs, but said they were investigating whether the incident was related to the fact that President-elect Donald Trump owns the hotel or that Elon Musk runs Tesla.

Trump recently appointed Musk to co-lead a presidential advisory commission, the Department of Government Efficiency, after the two became close during Trump’s campaign.

“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building and that it’s a Tesla vehicle,” Spencer Evans, an FBI agent based in Las Vegas, said Thursday.

“But we have no information at this time that definitively tells us or suggests that (the incident) was due to a particular ideology,” he said.

The explosion occurred just hours after a man drove a van into New Year’s revelers on busy Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more.

That attacker has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen who also served in the U.S. military.

President Joe Biden has said investigators are looking into whether the two incidents are related, although nothing has been discovered so far to suggest that is the case.

But the question remains fueled by the apparent similarities between the two incidents and some biographical details of the drivers of both vehicles.

Both incidents occurred in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Both men served in the U.S. military, including at the Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) military base in North Carolina, and both completed a tour in Afghanistan. Both men also rented the vehicles they used through a mobile car rental app called Turo.

However, police have said there is no evidence the two men were in the same unit or served at the same time at Fort Liberty. Although both were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, there is no evidence that they served in the same province, location or unit.

In the New Orleans attack, police recovered an Islamic State (IS) group flag from the vehicle used by Jabbar. They added that he posted videos on social media moments before claiming allegiance to the group. Police have determined that Jabbar was acting alone.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, there is no evidence to suggest that Livelsberger was motivated by ISIS, or that he and Jabbar had ever been in contact. Police have advised that the investigation is still active.

Livelsberger was a decorated special forces intelligence sergeant who was serving in Germany, but was on approved leave at the time of the incident.

His father told BBC US partner CBS News that his son was in Colorado to see his wife and eight-month-old daughter.

He said he last spoke to his son on Christmas and everything seemed normal.

The Daily Beast reported that Livelsberger was a “big” Trump supporter. A senior law enforcement official who spoke with Livelsberger’s family told the outlet that Livelsberger voted for Trump in the November election.

His uncle told The Independent that Livelsberger loved Trump “and was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American.”