LOS ANGELES: A decorated Green Beret who committed suicide in a burning Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas is affected by post-traumatic stress, investigators said on Friday (December 3), saying they’d found no links to the “terrorist.” groups.
Matthew Livelsberger, 37, a member of America’s elite special forces, shot himself on New Year’s Day in a rented Tesla vehicle stuffed with fuel containers and fireworks that exploded.
The explosion injured seven people near the car parking zone of the glass Trump International Hotel.
“While this incident is more public and more sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other issues,” he said at a conference on Friday press release by FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans. .
Investigators said they were still examining Livelsberger’s devices, but up to now they found two letters on his phone in which he talked about, amongst other things, the “burden” of taking a life.
Although the truck exploded outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel, which is a component of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s family business, Livelsberger “did not harbor any animosity” toward the Republican, Evans said.
He also said that investigators “have not identified any connection between this topic and any other terrorist organization.”
He added that private and family problems could have contributed to the incident.
Livelsberger’s body was burned beyond recognition, but Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said authorities confirmed through dental records and DNA that it was indeed him who died in the Cybertruck.
He said investigators are still working to find out the precise sequence of events in the Cybertruck, but for now it appears Livelsberger shot himself and the explosion that ignited the vehicle occurred “simultaneously.”
Evans also said again that investigators had found no connection between the explosion and the deadly attack in New Orleans, which also occurred on Jan. 1.
During that attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. Army veteran loyal to the Islamic State group, drove a truck right into a crowd of revelers, killing 14 people, before being shot by police.
