According to police, the soldier Livelsberger, who comes from the state of Colorado, was a member of the US elite Green Berets unit and was stationed in Germany, but was currently on home leave. Investigators had already suspected that he was the driver of the rented Cybertruck because they found his passport, credit cards and an army ID card. The vehicle, which was loaded with gasoline cans and fireworks, exploded after the suicide, leaving the driver burned beyond recognition.
According to the investigation, the soldier rented the car in Colorado on December 28th. From there he drove through Arizona and New Mexico to Las Vegas, where he arrived on January 1st.
The motive for the crime was initially unclear. There is no concrete evidence that Livelsberger was guided by a “particular ideology” in his actions, FBI agent Spencer Evans said at a press conference. The fact that the car exploded in front of a hotel belonging to future US President Donald Trump and that the car company Tesla is run by Trump ally Elon Musk had sparked numerous speculations.
A few hours before the explosion in Las Vegas, an ex-US soldier drove a rented pickup truck into a nightlife district in New Orleans, killing 14 people and injuring more than 30 others. The 42-year-old named Shamsud-Din Jabbar was subsequently killed in a shootout with police.
The officers discovered a black flag of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia in his car, and he had also declared his support for IS in several videos a few hours before his crime. According to the US Federal Police on Thursday, there is “no clear connection between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas.”
