Soldier who died in Cybertruck explosion writes it was a ‘wake-up call’: NPR

Highly decorated Army soldier who died in Tesla Cybertruck explosion at Trump hotel in Las Vegas left note saying it was a hoax intended as a ‘wake-up call’ to the country’s ills, investigators said Friday.

Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret from Colorado Springs, Colo., also wrote in the note that he needed to “cleanse my mind” of the lost lives of people he knew and the “burden of lives I ‘I took’.

Livelsberger apparently had no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump, Clark County sheriff’s officials said.

“While this incident is more public and sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress and other issues,” said FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans during a press conference. conference.

The explosion left seven people lightly injured but virtually no damage to the hotel.

“It was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake-up call,” Livelsberger wrote.

“It wasn’t a terrorist attack, it was a wake-up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my message across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives,” Livelsberger wrote in a letter found by authorities who released only excerpts.

Investigators identified the Tesla driver – who was burned beyond recognition – as Livelsberger through a tattoo and by comparing the DNA of his relatives. The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, coroners said.

Pentagon officials declined to say whether Livelsberger suffered from mental health problems, but said they had turned over his medical records to police.

The new details came as investigators sought to determine Livelsberger’s motives, including whether he was seeking to make a political point to Tesla and the hotel named for the president-elect.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently became a member of President-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk were in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, the day of the explosion. Both had attended Trump’s New Year’s party at his South Florida estate.

Musk spent about $250 million during the presidential campaign to support Trump, who named Musk, the world’s richest man, to co-lead a new effort to find ways to reduce the size and spending of the government.

Investigators suspect Livelsberger planned a more damaging attack, but the steel-sided vehicle absorbed much of the force of the crudely constructed explosive.

Investigators previously said Livelsberger shot himself in the head inside the fireworks-filled Tesla Cybertruck just before it exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day. Year.

“It’s not lost on us that it’s across the street from the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have any information at this point that tells us or suggests in any way definitively it’s because of this particular ideology,” said Spencer Evans, the agency’s chief executive. Las Vegas FBI Special Agent in Charge said Thursday during a news conference.

Asked Friday whether Livelsberger suffered from mental health issues that might have led to his suicide, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters that “the department turned over all medical records to the forces of local order”.

A law enforcement official said investigators learned in interviews that he may have argued with his wife over relationship problems shortly before renting the Tesla on Saturday and buying weapons. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Items found in vehicle included weapons and fireworks

Authorities are still working to determine a motive. Among the charred items found inside the truck were a handgun at Livelsberger’s feet, another firearm, fireworks, a passport, a military ID, credit cards, an iPhone and a smart watch, McMahill said. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally.

Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces that fight terrorism overseas and train partners. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks through a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said. He had recently returned from an overseas assignment in Germany and was on leave of absence when he died, according to a U.S. official.

He received a total of five Bronze Stars, including one with a symbol of valor for courage under fire, a Combat Infantryman Badge, and an Army Commendation Medal for Valor.

Authorities searched a townhouse in Livelsberger’s hometown Thursday as part of the investigation. Neighbors said the man who lived there had a wife and baby.

Cindy Helwig, who lives diagonally across a narrow street separating the houses, said she last saw the man she knew as Matthew about two weeks ago when he asked her if he could borrow a tool he needed to repair an SUV he was working on.

“He was a normal man,” said Helwig, who said he last saw his wife and baby earlier this week.

The explosion of the truck, filled with fireworks mortars and cans of camp fuel, occurred hours after Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, crashed a truck into a crowd in the famous French Quarter of New Orleans early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 14 people before being shot and killed by police. The FBI says it believes Jabbar acted alone and is being investigated as a terrorist attack.

Chris Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI, said Thursday that officials had found “no definitive link” between the New Orleans attack and the Las Vegas truck explosion.