Soldier killed in explosion in Las Vegas left a note explaining that it was a “wake-up call” to the country. The FBI says he “apparently held no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump.”
a soldier who died in the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck truck At the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas he left a note in which he indicated that it was an action that was intended to serve as a “wake-up call” for the ills that afflict the country, investigators said on Friday.
Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret from Colorado Springs, Colorado, apparently held no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump, Clark County Police Department officers reported.
Livelsberger wrote in the note that he needed to “cleanse” his “mind” of the lost lives of people he knew and: “the burden of the lives I took.”
“While this incident is more public and more sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a highly decorated combat veteran who was battling post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues,” said Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, Spencer Evans, at a press conference.
The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people, but virtually no damage to the hotel.
“This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake-up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt involving fireworks and explosives,” Livelsberger wrote in a letter found by authorities, who only published excerpts of it.
Investigators have identified the driver of the Tesla — who was left unrecognizable due to burns he suffered — while the Clark County Medical Examiner's Office said his death was a suicide caused by the gunshot wound.
Pentagon officials have declined to say whether Livelsberger had suffered mental health problems, but said they have turned over his medical records to police.
The new details emerged as investigators sought to determine Livelsberger's motive, including whether he was seeking to make a political statement with the Tesla and the hotel named after the president-elect.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently become a member of President-elect Donald Trump's inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk were in Las Vegas early Wednesday, the day of the explosion. Both had attended Trump's New Year's Eve party at his South Florida residence.
Musk spent about $250 million during the presidential campaign to support Trump, who has named the businessman, the world's richest man, to co-lead a new effort to find ways to reduce the size and spending of the government.
Investigators suspect Livelsberger may have been planning a more damaging attack, but the steel-sided vehicle absorbed much of the force of the crudely constructed explosive.