The man who reportedly rented the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside a hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas was a member of the US military's special forces, officials said Thursday.
The Pentagon said Matthew Alan Livelsberger was on leave from active duty at the time of the incident, in which the Cybertruck filled with fuel containers and fireworks erupted early Wednesday.
Officials said one person inside the vehicle was killed and seven bystanders injured.
The FBI has said it had not yet ascertained a motive for the suspected attack.
US media have identified Livelsberger as the man who rented the Cybertruck, though authorities have not yet confirmed that or the identity of the person who died inside the vehicle.
"U.S. Army Special Operations Command can confirm Livelsberger was assigned to the command and on approved leave at the time of his death," an army spokesperson said, without confirming that he was the person inside the truck.
The spokesperson said Livelsberger had enlisted from 2006 until 2011, before serving in the National Guard and the Army Reserve and then joining special forces by 2012.
On Thursday, authorities said the person inside the Cybertruck at the time of its explosion had a gunshot wound to the head.
"We also discovered through the coroner's office that the individual had sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle," Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters, suggesting the suspect could have died by suicide before the explosion.
The sheriff told a news conference Wednesday that the back of the truck contained gasoline and camping fuel canisters, as well as large firework mortars.
McMahill also said the fact that it was a Cybertruck "really limited the damage... because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out," noting that the glass doors of the hotel, just a few feet away, "were not even broken by that blast."
The blast came just hours after an electric pickup truck plowed into a crowd in New Orleans' French Quarter, killing at least 15 and injuring dozens.
Initially investigators were probing any potential link between the two incidents, but authorities in New Orleans said Thursday they believe the attacker there acted alone, while the FBI described the Vegas incident as "isolated."
FBI agent Jeremy Schwartz Wednesday said that an FBI joint terrorism task force was conducting the investigation with two main goals — to confirm the identity of the person who died in the Tesla truck and whether the blast was an act of terrorism.
Video footage outside the Trump International Hotel shows the stainless steel truck parked at the building's glass entrance, then bursting into flames, followed by smaller explosions that appeared similar to fireworks.
The Trump-branded building, which opened in 2008, is part-owned by the Republican president-elect's family business.
Concerns over Trump-Musk link
Authorities in New Orleans said the attacker there was inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group. McMahill said they had no indication so far that the blast in Las Vegas had any similar links.
However, he added: "It's a Tesla truck, and we know Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump, and it's the Trump tower."
"So there's obviously things to be concerned about there and that's something we continue to look at," McMahill said.
Tesla CEO Musk, the world's richest man, backed Trump in the November election and was named by the Republican to head up a commission to trim government spending.
The truck had been rented in Colorado through the carsharing company Turo, police said — the same app that was used to rent the vehicle in the New Orleans attack.
McMahill said that was a "coincidence... that we have to continue to look in to."