Green Beret with a newborn baby — what we know about Cybertruck driver in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A driver’s license, military ID and a passport recovered from the burned Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas were starting points as law enforcement pieced together information about Matthew Livelsberger.

We’re learning more about the 37-year-old Green Beret — maybe nothing more perplexing than a gunshot wound to the head that police say occurred before explosives in the bed of the Cybertruck ignited on New Year’s Day at about 8:40 a.m.

Among the details that are filtering in — a wife and newborn baby in Colorado, his route to Las Vegas and his younger years in Ohio.

The Clark County coroner’s office ruled Livelsberger’s death a suicide just before 3 p.m. on Thursday. The body recovered from the truck was burned beyond recognition, and officials had been careful to say that identification was tentative until DNA evidence confirmed it.

Investigators are still looking for a motive in Wednesday’s attack.

What we know now

The FBI has received thousands of tips related to Livelsberger, according to Spencer Evans, Special Agent in Charge of the Las Vegas Field Division. He cited an unverified tip about Livelsberger’s personal experiences related to his time and activity in the military, and said the FBI is following up on tips — both in the U.S. and abroad.

Investigators found a Desert Eagle .50 caliber semiautomatic pistol, an SLR Model B-30 semiautomatic firearm, an iPhone, a smart watch and credit cards with Livelberger’s name. One of the weapons was found at his feet. Both guns were purchased legally on Monday, authorities said.

Officials said the explosives were all consumer products — nothing commercial grade. Fireworks and exploding targets were found along with cans of camping fuel and fuel enhancers. It was unclear how it all ignited — but Tesla CEO Elon Musk was quick to say that it had nothing to do with the truck itself. He said senior members of the Tesla team are assisting in the investigation.

Livelsberger served as a decorated Green Beret operations sergeant, based at Fort Carson, Colorado. He served in the Army since 2006. His overseas assignments included two deployments to Afghanistan as well as time in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the U.S. Army said. He earned five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge, and an Army Commendation Medal with Valor.

Path to Las Vegas

Officials pieced together a detailed timeline of Livelsberger’s journey to Las Vegas.

His driver’s license showed a Colorado Springs address, and Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill showed Livelsberger’s route after he rented the truck on the Turo app. Officials were looking at possible connections to the deadly New Year’s Eve attack in New Orleans, which involved a truck rented from the same company.

Livelsberger followed Interstate 25 from Denver, stopping to charge in the Colorado towns of Monument and Trinidad. He charged in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and then got on I-40 heading west after charging in Albuquerque and again in Gallup.

According to his passport, which was found in the burned vehicle, Livelsberger was born in Arizona. He stopped three times there — in Holbrook, Flagstaff and Kingman — to charge the electric truck as he made his way to Las Vegas, documents presented by Metro police showed on Thursday.

Media reports out of Ohio indicated Livelsberger grew up in Bucyrus, where he was an honors student who played football and baseball for Bucyrus High School.

The truck was spotted at 7:29 a.m. in Las Vegas, and again on surveillance as it pulled through the Trump International Hotel valet at 7:34 a.m. McMahill said the truck stopped at several locations along the Strip before returning. One of those stops was longer than the others, at an undisclosed business near Flamingo Road and the Strip.

Neighbors in Colorado

Livelsberger has no criminal record, and no information about his background prior to joining the military or his personal life has been officially released. But an interview with a neighbor on Thursday provided a glimpse of his home life.

In Colorado Springs, a neighbor described Livelsberger and his wife, Sara, as a “very normal” family with a newborn baby and a dog — a Belgian malinois, a breed often used by police departments. “We wave at each other, and that’s about it,” Keni Mac told a reporter from KXRM, Fox 21, on Thursday.

Mac said she went to the same gym as the wife, but didn’t know the couple by name. She knew them from attending homeowners association meetings at the townhome community. Livelsberger’s townhome is right behind hers.

Mac said she noticed a plane circling overhead for hours on Wednesday evening and several cars idling in the neighborhood for hours, which was highly unusual. When she walked her dog, she asked police and they told her about the connection to the Las Vegas investigation.

“I’d be very shocked if there was some sketchy, like, explosive stuff in there,” Mac said.

Sara Livelsberger was noted for social posts critical of Donald Trump in 2015, but in media reports on Thursday, her family disputed that.

Positive identification

Before the Coroner’s office statement at 2:57 p.m. Thursday, McMahill made a point of stopping short of saying Livelsberger died in the fire. Instead, he called him a person of interest.

Hours passed before the body could be removed from the truck, which was eventually taken to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s fleet services lot. The joint investigation involving Metro, the FBI and the ATF is continuing.

Before the coroner’s ruling, McMahill said, “The question really still remains for me and I know that there’s a lot of you folks in the media that are identifying this person as the person in our vehicle. As I mentioned to you already, his body is burned beyond recognition and I do still not have confirmation 100% that that is the individual that was inside of our vehicle.”

Tattoos and evidence from the vehicle rental, along with surveillance at charging stations, provided the only evidence available until the ID was confirmed.

A statement from the U.S. Army said:

“Master Sgt. Matthew Alan Livelsberger enlisted as an 18X and served in the active duty Army from January 2006 to March 2011. Livelsberger then joined the National Guard from March 2011 to July 2012, followed by the Army Reserve from July 2012 to December 2012. He entered the active duty Army in December 2012 and was a U.S. Army Special Operations Soldier.
Additionally, U.S. Army Special Operations Command can confirm Livelsberger was assigned to the command and on approved leave at the time of his death. USASOC is in full cooperation with federal and state law enforcement agencies, but as a matter of policy, will not comment on ongoing investigations.”

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