Soldier shot himself before Cybertruck exploded outside Trump hotel

A highly decorated army soldier was inside a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, authorities said on Thursday.

The soldier, identified as 37-year-old Green Beret Matthew Livelsberger, reportedly shot himself in the head moments before the detonation.

The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but the hotel remained largely undamaged.

Police believe Livelsberger intended a more damaging attack but the steel-sided vehicle absorbed much of the force from the crudely built explosive.

According to the officials, the blast’s damage was largely confined to the truck’s interior, as the explosion “vented out and up,” avoiding the hotel doors just a few feet away.

A US coroner confirmed Livelsberger’s death was a suicide by gunshot. Authorities are still working to determine a motive.

A law enforcement official said investigators learned through interviews that he may have gotten into a fight with his wife about relationship issues shortly before he rented the Tesla and bought the guns.

“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology,” said Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI’s special agent in charge.

Livelsberger had recently returned from an overseas assignment in Germany and was on approved leave when he died, according to officials.

Among the charred items found inside the truck were a handgun at Livelsberger’s feet, another firearm, a number of fireworks, a passport, a military ID, credit cards, an iPhone and a smartwatch. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally.

Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces specialising in counterterrorism operations abroad and training allied forces. He had served in the army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.

He was awarded a total of five Bronze Stars, including one with a valour device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valour.

Authorities searched a house in Colorado on Thursday as part of the investigation. Neighbours said the man who lived there had a wife and a baby and did not give any sign of posing a danger to anyone.