Local and state officials continue to investigate Wednesday morning’s deadly explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, including whether it was motivated by terrorism or linked to a terrorist attack hours earlier in New Orleans that left 15 people dead.
A petrol bomb and explosives laden on the bed of a truck outside the president-elect’s compound near the iconic Las Vegas Strip killed the driver and left seven people with minor injuries, officials said.
In New Orleans, a driver plowed his truck into a New Year’s Eve crowd on Bourbon Street. The attack, which the FBI called an act of terrorism, killed 15 people and injured dozens more.
Local and foreign officials said they are not ruling out a connection between the two New Year’s Day events. But they said the Las Vegas explosion appeared to be an “isolated incident,” with no ongoing threat to tourists or Las Vegas residents.
At a press conference Wednesday evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said the truck that exploded at the Trump Hotel was 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 drove up and down the Las Vegas Strip for about an hour before entering a roadblock outside the Trump Hotel. . He said the car exploded after 15 seconds.
McMahill said the department confirmed the name of the person who rented the Cybertruck, but did not say if that person was the driver killed in the explosion. The driver’s name will not be released until authorities have “100% identification,” he said.
Investigators have not yet determined how the driver lit the explosives and the gas and gasoline drums in the back of the car, McMahill said.
McMahill said investigators are looking into whether the driver intentionally targeted one of Trump’s locations using a Tesla vehicle. Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, is a close adviser to the president-elect.
A Tesla Cybertruck is on display after it caught fire and exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel on Wednesday in Las Vegas. At least one person died and seven others were injured.
(Wade Vandervort/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s a Tesla truck and we know Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump and it’s Trump Tower, so obviously there are things to be concerned about,” McMahill said. “It’s something we’re continuing 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 work to determine whether the attack was a terrorist attack.
McMahill showed video from outside the hotel showing the Cybertruck exploding outside the hotel’s glass entrance doors.
“The fact that this was a Cybertruck greatly reduced the amount of damage that was done inside the valet, because most of the explosions went up through the truck,” McMahill said. “You will see that the front glass doors at the Trump Hotel were not broken by that explosion, which was parked in front of them.”
McMahill said Musk was in contact with 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 attack and the Ford truck used in the New Orleans attack are being rented from Turo, a platform where people can rent cars from car owners.
A company spokesperson said Turo is cooperating with law enforcement, but does not believe anyone it hired “had a criminal background that would identify them as a security threat.”
Eric Trump, one of the president-elect’s sons, thanked first responders for their “quick and professional response.”
“The safety and well-being of our guests and employees remains our top priority,” he wrote on X.
Musk, who owns the X, wrote on social media that “the entire Tesla team is investigating this matter.”
“We have never seen anything like this,” he added.
Source link
