Matthew Livelsberger has been named in reports as a suspect found dead in an explosives-filled Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, New Year’s Day 2025.

Colorado Springs Station KOAA and the New York Post have reported, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, that Livelsberger, a 37-year-old former Army veteran, is the suspect.

There have been a number of social media posts purporting to identify social media accounts linked to Matt Livelsberger that revealed details about his life.

Newsweek asked the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via email for comment.

The context

One person died and seven others were injured after the explosion led to a fire in the valet parking area outside the Trump International Hotel on Las Vegas Boulevard around 8:40 a.m. local time, according to authorities. The dead man is said to have been behind the wheel of the vehicle that exploded.

Police have not yet determined the cause of the incident and are investigating whether it was an act of terrorism.

What we know

There are three social media accounts: a LinkedIn account linked to Matt Livelsberger, a Facebook account linked to Matt Berg, and a Facebook account linked to a wife or girlfriend of Livelsberger named Sara Livelsberger is linked.

Newsweek was unable to independently verify the accuracy of these accounts.

According to social media profiles that appear to belong to Livelsberger and his partner, he was a former veteran from Colorado Springs.

According to the LinkedIn profile, Livelsberger was an operations manager and intelligence manager. He worked in the US Army for over 19 years.

He started as a special forces communications specialist, a position he held for nine years. He was then appointed special forces intelligence and operations specialist, a position he held for seven years.

Livelsberger then became a special forces operations officer and team sergeant, a position he held for nearly two years before being named remote and autonomous systems manager in November.

He attended Norwich University in Vermont, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in strategic studies and defense analysis and graduated summa cum laude.

According to LinkedIn, he received a State Meritorious Honor Award from the State Department.

Livelsberger was active on LinkedIn and frequently commented on posts by military colleagues. In a comment on a post about student debt, when asked who was responsible for the debt, he replied, “The government.”

His LinkedIn profile also states that he was interested in human rights and animal welfare.

Although all three profiles have been shared on social media, there are discrepancies. Matt Berg’s profile has a different last name and the man in the pictures in the profile looks different than the man in the pictures on Matt Livelsberger’s LinkedIn account and Sara Livelsberger’s Facebook page.

The information on Sara Livelsberger’s page and Matt Livelsberger’s LinkedIn match. A post on Sara Livelsberger’s Facebook page from 2015 states: “It’s my old man’s 28th birthday!” This corresponds to Livelsberger’s stated age of 37 years.

Sara Livelsberger’s Facebook account posted many pictures of Matt Livelsberger and many posts talked about their relationship. The last post on this account was from May 2016.

An account on X, formerly Twitter, also belonged to Sara Livelsberger. It hasn’t been posted since 2015. Therefore, it is unclear whether Sara Livelsberger, who was apparently Matt Livelsberger’s wife or girlfriend, is still in touch with him.

In posts shared on Sara Livelsberger’s Facebook account, Matt Livelsberger is seen attending rock concerts, vacationing in Puerto Rico, and spending time with dogs.

Livelsberger reportedly died in the explosion.

The suspect is said to have rented the Tesla Cybertruck through the car-sharing company Turo in Colorado.

ABC affiliates have reported that several addresses have been linked to the alleged suspect and the FBI is awaiting a search warrant for one of the apartments.

What people say

Las Vegas County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in a press conference Wednesday: “We are currently investigating a number of leads and I am not yet ready to share this information with you. I can tell you that there are currently seven victims who have suffered injuries from the explosion.”

Jeremy Schwartz, acting FBI special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office, at a press conference: “I know you have a lot of questions.”

“We don’t have many answers,” he added.

What’s next?

Las Vegas police said they are investigating the fire and explosion. At Wednesday’s press conference, Schwartz confirmed that the FBI was also involved in the investigation.

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