No definitive link between Tesla explosion and New Orleans attack, FBI says

LAS VEGAS, Jan 2 The FBI on Thursday said it had so far found no definitive link between the New Year's Day New Orleans truck attack that killed 15 people and a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas, which killed the driver who officials have reportedly identified as an active-duty U.S. Army soldier.

The Las Vegas explosion outside of the Trump International Hotel left the sole occupant of the truck dead and seven people with minor injuries, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement. 

Law enforcement officials identified the man inside the Tesla Cybertruck as Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty U.S. Army soldier, the Associated Press and other media reported Thursday.

The FBI has identified the person driving the Cybertruck but was not ready to release that information, FBI special agent in charge Jeremy Schwartz told reporters on Wednesday. The FBI did not respond to a request for more information on Thursday.

Livelsberger was assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and was on approved leave at the time of his death, a U.S. Army official said. The U.S. Army Special Operations Command would not comment on an ongoing investigation, a spokesperson said.

Livelsberger had been on active duty from January 2006 to March 2011 and later served in the National Guard and Army Reserve before re-entering active duty in December 2012 as a U.S. Army Special Operations Soldier, according to a U.S. Army official.

Livelsberger does not appear to have a criminal record. He has been linked to addresses in Colorado Springs since 2013.

Authorities on Wednesday said that the Tesla Cybertruck was rented out of Colorado. FOX21 in Colorado reported a law enforcement presence at a town home complex in a Colorado Springs neighborhood late Wednesday night.

The FBI's Denver office on Thursday said that a search of a residential address in Colorado Springs by federal and local authorities is related to the Las Vegas explosion.

Videos taken by witnesses inside and outside the Las Vegas hotel showed the vehicle exploding and flames pouring out of it, as it sat outside the hotel at around 8:40 a.m. local time (1640 GMT) Wednesday.

A Trump spokesman did not return a request for comment Thursday on the Cybertruck incident. Eric Trump praised Las Vegas fire and law enforcement officials on Wednesday for their quick action on the explosion.