Police ID driver of exploded Cybertruck, can't see motive
An Army Green Beret detonated a homemade bomb in a Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas
What happened
Law enforcement officials said Thursday that a highly decorated Army Green Beret shot himself in the head right before a rented Tesla Cybertruck he drove from Colorado exploded in the valet lane of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, 37, was on approved leave from his Special Forces unit in Germany, Army officials said. He was the only person killed in the blast, though seven bystanders suffered minor injuries.
Who said what
Military officials "remain baffled" at "how or why a model soldier with a stellar record" ended up at the center of what could be a "terrorist event," The Wall Street Journal said. That the exploding truck, "packed with off-the-shelf ingredients" like firecrackers and small propane canisters, caused so little damage also "prompted a lot of head-scratching," The New York Times said.
Livelsberger had the "skills and experience to produce a larger and more deadly explosion if he had wanted," The Washington Post said, citing a Special Forces officer who served with him. "I'm comfortable calling it a suicide with the bombing that occurred immediately thereafter," Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference. "I'm not giving it any other labels."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Investigators have found "no definitive link" between the Cybertruck explosion and a truck attack in New Orleans that killed at least 14 New Year's revelers hours earlier, the FBI said. There were "striking — if superficial — similarities" between the incidents, the Post said, including that Livelsberger and New Orleans assailant Shamsud-Din Jabbar both served in the Army, and at the same North Carolina base and in Afghanistan, though there's no record their paths ever crossed.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Why Britain is struggling to stop the ransomware cyberattacksThe Explainer New business models have greatly lowered barriers to entry for criminal hackers
-
Greene’s rebellion: a Maga hardliner turns against TrumpIn the Spotlight The Georgia congresswoman’s independent streak has ‘not gone unnoticed’ by the president
-
Crossword: October 26, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
The trial of Jair Bolsonaro, the 'Trump of the tropics'The Explainer Brazil's former president will likely be found guilty of attempting military coup, despite US pressure and Trump allegiance
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Trump lambasts crime, but his administration is cutting gun violence preventionThe Explainer The DOJ has canceled at least $500 million in public safety grants
