FBI descends on Colorado Springs home as Cybertruck investigation continues

One person died and seven others were injured on Wednesday when a Tesla Cybertruck that carried fireworks and camp fuel canisters caught fire and exploded in front of the hotel.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Clark County Fire Department officials told a news conference that a person died inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck and they were working to get the body out. Seven people nearby had minor injuries and several were taken to a hospital.

Sources confirmed to Gazette news partner KOAA Wednesday evening the driver of the Cybertruck in the Las Vegas explosion lived in Colorado Springs.

According to senior law enforcement sources, 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger was the driver and had several Colorado Springs addresses associated to him, KOAA reports.

At around 7:30 a.m. Thursday, multiple FBI vehicles were seen at the 5400 block of Carvel Grove, near the corner of Stetson Hills Boulevard and Marksheffel Road on the northeast side of Colorado Springs.

The FBI was at the townhouse complex Wednesday night, the Colorado Springs Police Department told KOAA. Armored vehicles and agents in tactical gear were observed at the complex.

Wednesday’s report

LAS VEGAS — One person died and seven others were injured on Wednesday when a Tesla Cybertruck that carried fireworks and camp fuel canisters caught fire and exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel, authorities said.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Clark County Fire Department officials told a news conference that a person died inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck and they were working to get the body out. Seven people nearby had minor injuries and several were taken to a hospital.

The truck explosion came hours after a driver rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people before being shot to death by police. That crash was being investigated as a terrorist attack and the police believe the driver was not acting alone.

The fire in the valet area of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas was reported at 8:40 a.m., a county spokesperson said in a statement.

According to a law enforcement official, the truck was rented via the Turo app. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Meanwhile, authorities in Las Vegas said the truck was rented in Colorado and investigators were able to trace it via charging stations. Authorities also said it arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning. 

Citing ABC News, KRDO also reported that the person who rented the truck set out from Colorado Springs on Dec. 30. Meanwhile, 9News, a Denver Gazette partner, reported that it has learned, through a source, that the individual who rented the Cybertruck lived in Colorado Springs and has military experience. 

Firework mortars and camp fuel canisters were found stuffed into the back of the Tesla Cybertruck, authorities said.  

One Front Range Turo host, who wished to remain anonymous, said he is selling his entire fleet of 35 vehicles, worried it could have been one of his vehicles rented for nefarious purposes.

“It’s my biggest fear. It’s not worth it. 15 people dead in New Orleans. More hurt in Las Vegas,” he said.

He said that Turo offers $750,000 in liability coverage for hosts.

“Turo claims they do criminal background checks on people who rent the cars, but at the end of the day, it’s fairly easy to get approved,” the businessman said.

He added that the hosts who rent out these vehicles through Turo are “normal people who have a couple of cars on the side, but they are at the mercy of the company.” After he’s rented some of his vehicles, some have come back with bullet holes, and one person even died in one of his cars, he said.

“I’m just over it,” he said.

Reports said that both trucks involved in New Orleans and in Las Vegas were rented from Turo.

In a statement, Turo said it was working with authorities.

“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,” the statement said.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday afternoon on X that “we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself. All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”

“The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now,” Musk said in an earlier post on the platform after attending a New Year’s Eve party at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. “We’ve never seen anything like this.”

Law enforcement officials have not ruled out terrorism as a possible motive, a person familiar with the matter said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation.

“I know you have a lot of questions,” Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge for the FBI’s Las Vegas office, told reporters. “We don’t have a lot of answers.”

“Our No. 1 goal is to ensure that we have the proper identification of the subject involved in this incident,” Schwartz said. “Following that, our second objective is to determine whether this was an act of terrorism or not.”

Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said authorities know who rented the truck with the Turo app in Colorado but that authorities are not releasing the name until investigators determine if it is the same person who died.

McMahill said video captured at Telsa charging stations provided by Musk helped authorities track the vehicle’s journey — arriving in Las Vegas about 7:30 AM. then driving about an hour later into the valet area of the Trump International Hotel, where it sat 15 to 20 seconds before the explosion occurred.

“This is a Tesla truck, and we know that Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump, and it’s the Trump Tower,” McMahill said when reporters asked about possible political connections. “So, there’s obviously things to be concerned about and it’s something we continue to look at.”

Video presented at an afternoon news conference showed a tumble of charred fireworks mortars, cannisters and other explosive devices crowded into the back of the pickup. The truck bed walls were still intact because the blast shot straight up rather than to the sides.

President Joe Biden had been briefed on the explosion.

“We are absolutely investigating any connectivity to what happened in New Orleans, as well as other attacks that have been occurring around the world,” McMahill said. “We aren’t ruling anything out.”

In Las Vegas, witness Ana Bruce, who was visiting from Brazil, said she heard three explosions.

“The first one where we saw the fire, the second one, I guess, was the battery or something like that, and the third was the big one that smoked the entire area and was the moment when everyone was told to evacuate and stay away,” Bruce said.

Her travel companion, Alcides Antunes, showed video he took of flames lapping the sides of the silver-colored vehicle.

The 64-story hotel is just off the Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping mall.

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Eric Trump, a son of the president-elect and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, posted about the fire on the social media platform X. He praised the fire department and local law enforcement “for their swift response and professionalism.”

Gazette reporter Carol McKinley contributed to this article. McKinley reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Zeke Miller in Washington also contributed to this report.