(NewsNation) — The decorated Army soldier who drove a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside of a Las Vegas, Nevada hotel suffered a gunshot wound to the head before the massive blast, officials said Thursday.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept. Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference that a handgun was found at the feet of the man who's been identified as Matthew Livelsberger. Officials believe the shot was self-inflicted.
Livelsberger, an Army soldier from Colorado, served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the Army said in a statement. He was active duty from January 2006 to March 2011, according to an Army spokesperson. He then joined the National Guard from March 2011 through July 2012. After that, Livelsberger was in the Army Reserve until December 2012, when he entered active duty as an Army Special Operations soldier.
"Livelsberger was assigned to the command and on approved leave at the time of his death. USASOC is in full cooperation with federal and state law enforcement agencies, but as a matter of policy, will not comment on ongoing investigations," the spokesperson said.
He served at the same military base as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the man suspected of intentionally driving into a crowd in New Orleans, killing 15, but the FBI says there's no definitive link between the two.
McMahill did acknowledge some of the similarities in both cases, such as the use of the Turo app to rent the vehicles in both incidents.
"Both subjects served at Fort Bragg, North Carolina," McMahill said. "What we do know about that is it's a very large military base, and we have no record that they served in the same unit or even [during] the same years."
Both men also served in Afghanistan in 2009, he added, but investigators don't yet know if they were in the same location or the same unit.
Livelsberger died and seven others were injured as a result of the explosion at the entrance of the Las Vegas Trump International Hotel on Wednesday morning.
Police said the act was intentional. Gas canisters, camping fuel and firework mortars were found in the bed of the truck after the fire was extinguished, McMahill said.
However, police did not find any devices that would have been used to ignite the explosion, and are unsure at this time how it ignited.
Kenny Cooper, a special agent in charge for the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said at Thursday's press conference that the initial investigation has determined that the fireworks were consumer grade and there is currently no evidence of any fuel enhancers.
“The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” Cooper said.
Among other charred items found inside the truck were a second firearm, a number of fireworks, passport, military ID, credit cards, an iPhone and a smartwatch, McMahill said. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally.
Investigators have not definitively identified the remains as Livelsberger, but the IDs and tattoos on the body “give a strong indication that it’s him,” the sheriff said.
Video footage of the incident shows the truck parked next to the hotel's front doors as it bursts into flames, exploding fireworks visible amid the blast.
McMahill said Thursday that the force of the explosion "sort of vented out and up," and didn't destroy the sides of the vehicle nor the nearby glass doors of the Trump hotel.
"I also know that there's a number of unexploded pieces of the things that he had inside of that vehicle, and so I just don't think that it was done as well as he was expecting," he added.
Authorities said Thursday that Livelsberger rented the Cybertruck in Denver on December 28. Investigators were able to track his movements using information from Tesla charging stations as the vehicle recharged in Monument, Colorado on Dec. 30, then in Trinidad, Colorado; Las Vegas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Gallup, New Mexico Dec. 31. On Jan. 1, the Cybertruck was charged in Arizona at stations in Holbrook, Flagstaff and Kingman before it was first spotted in Las Vegas at 7:29 a.m. Wednesday.
"We are heartbroken by the violence perpetrated in New Orleans and Las Vegas, and our prayers are with the victims and families," a Turo spokesperson said in a statement. "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."
FBI Acting Special Agent-In-Charge Jeremy Schwartz said the car explosion was an isolated incident and that there is no threat to the public.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
