Damage from the explosion was mostly limited to the interior of the truck. The blast “spread outward and upward” and did not hit the Trump Hotel’s door just a few feet away, the sheriff said.
“The level of sophistication we don’t expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” said Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
McMahill said other charred items found in the truck included a second gun, some fireworks, passports, military ID cards, credit cards, iPhones and smart watches. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally.
The remains were burned beyond recognition and investigators have not yet identified them as Lifsberg, but identification and tattoos on the bodies “strongly suggest it is him,” the sheriff said. Lifsberg served in the Green Berets, a highly trained special forces unit dedicated to combating terrorism overseas and training partners. He had been in the Army since 2006 and rose through the ranks during a long overseas assignment career that included two deployments to Afghanistan and tours of duty in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said. He was awarded a total of five Bronze Stars, including one for valor under fire, a Combat Infantry Badge and an Army Medal of Valor. Lifsberg was on approved leave at the time of his death, the statement said.
McMahill said Lifsberg rented the Tesla electric vehicle in Denver on Saturday, and the sheriff showed a map showing the vehicle charging on Monday in Monument, Colorado, near Colorado Springs. On New Year’s Eve, charging took place along the Interstate 40 corridor in Trinidad, Colorado, and the towns of Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Gallup, New Mexico.
Then on Wednesday, the day of the explosion, it was charged in the towns of Holbrook, Flagstaff and Kingman, Arizona, and then video showed an explosion on the Las Vegas Strip around 7:30 a.m. .
Investigators obtained photos of the charging station that showed Lifsberger “was the person driving the vehicle” and alone, McMahill said.
“We are not aware of any other subjects involved in this particular case,” the sheriff said.
The FBI posted on X on Thursday that it was “conducting law enforcement activities” at a Colorado Springs home in connection with Wednesday’s explosion, but gave no other details.
Hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early New Year’s Day, killing at least one person, Trucks filled with pyrotechnic mortars and camp fuel cans exploded. That incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack. The FBI said Thursday it believed Jabbar acted alone, reversing its position a day earlier that he might be working with others.
Both Lifsberg and Jabbar spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a large Army base in North Carolina that is home to several Army Special Operations units. However, an official who spoke to The Associated Press said their missions at the base, now known as Fort Liberty, did not overlap.
FBI Deputy Assistant Director Chris Raya said Thursday that officials found “no clear link” between the New Orleans attacks and the Las Vegas truck bombing.
Seven people nearby were slightly injured when the Tesla truck exploded. The video shows the back of the pickup packed with charred pyrotechnic mortars, canisters and other explosive devices. The walls of the truck bed were still intact because the blast was directed upwards rather than out to the sides.
Tesla CEO Musk said on X on Wednesday afternoon, “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried on the rental Cybertruck lathe and had nothing to do with the vehicle itself.
Musk has recently become a member of Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk were in Las Vegas earlier Wednesday. Both attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at his South Florida estate.
Musk spent an estimated $250 million supporting the former president during his presidential campaign. He was at Trump’s resort on election night and has been a regular there. Trump tapped Musk, the world’s richest man, to co-lead a new effort to find ways to reduce the size and spending of government.