Local and federal officials are continuing to investigate the deadly explosion Wednesday morning of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, including whether it was motivated by terrorism or linked to a terror attack hours earlier in New Orleans that left 15 people dead.
The explosion of fuel canisters and firework mortars packed into the bed of the truck outside the president-elect’s property near the iconic Las Vegas Strip killed the driver and left seven bystanders with minor injuries, officials said.
In New Orleans, a driver rammed his pickup truck into a crowd celebrating the new year on Bourbon Street. The attack, which the FBI has called an act of terrorism, killed 15 people and injured dozens more.
Local and federal officials said they are not ruling out a connection between the two New Year’s Day events. But they said the Las Vegas explosion appears to have been an “isolated incident,” with no lingering threat to Las Vegas tourists or residents.
At a press briefing Wednesday evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said the truck that exploded at the Trump Hotel had been rented in Colorado. An electronic license-plate reader recorded the Cybertruck arriving in Las Vegas at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, McMahill said, adding that the driver moved up and down the Las Vegas Strip for about an hour before pulling into the covered driveway outside the Trump Hotel. He said the vehicle exploded about 15 seconds later.
McMahill said the department had confirmed the name of the person who rented the Cybertruck, but did not say whether that person was the driver killed in the explosion. The driver’s name would not be released until authorities had “a 100% identification,” he said.
Investigators have not yet determined how the driver ignited the fireworks and gas and camping fuel canisters, in the back of the vehicle , McMahill said.
McMahill said investigators are looking into whether the driver had deliberately targeted one of Trump’s properties using a Tesla vehicle. Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, is a close advisor to the president-elect.
A Tesla Cybertruck is shown after it caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel on Wednesday in Las Vegas. At least one person was killed and seven wounded.
(Wade Vandervort / AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s a Tesla truck and we know that Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump and it’s the Trump Tower, so there’s obviously things to be concerned about there,” McMahill said. “It’s something we continue to look at.”
Jeremy Schwartz, acting FBI special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office, said investigators are prioritizing identifying the driver and will then work to determine whether the attack was terrorism.
McMahill showed a video from outside the hotel showing the Cybertruck exploding outside the glass entrance doors to the hotel.
“The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside of the valet, because it had most of the blast go up through the truck,” McMahill said. “You’ll see that the front glass doors at the Trump Hotel were not even broken by that blast, which they were parked directly in front of.”
McMahill said Musk had been in touch with the Las Vegas police and provided video of the Cybertruck charging at Tesla stations before arriving in Las Vegas.
The Cybertruck involved in the Las Vegas incident and the Ford pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack were rented through Turo, a platform where people can rent cars directly from vehicle owners.
A company spokesman said Turo is working with law enforcement, but that it does not believe that either renter “had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat.”
Eric Trump, one of the president-elect’s sons, thanked first responders for their “swift response and professionalism.”
“The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority,” he wrote on X.
Musk, who owns X, wrote on the social media platform that “the whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now.”
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” he added.
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2025-01-01 15:48:30
