LAS VEGAS, Nevada –
Fireworks mortars and camping fuel canisters were found stuffed in the back of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside US President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas early Wednesday, killing a suspect inside the vehicle and unleashing an intense investigation into possible terrorism.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Clark County Fire Department officials said one person died inside the futuristic-looking van and seven people nearby suffered minor injuries.
As of late Wednesday afternoon, authorities were still working to remove the body from the vehicle and begin processing evidence inside. President Joe Biden was briefed on the explosion.
“Our number one goal is to ensure that we have proper identification of the subject involved in this incident,” said Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas office. “After that, our second objective is to determine whether this was an act of terrorism or not.”
Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said authorities know who rented the truck with the Turo app in Colorado, but they will not release the name until investigators determine if it is the same person who died.
McMahill said video captured at Telsa charging stations provided by CEO Elon Musk helped authorities trace the journey of the vehicle, which arrived in Las Vegas around 7:30 a.m. Then drove for about an hour. later to the valet area of the Trump International Hotel, where he remained for 15 to 20 seconds before the explosion occurred.
Video presented at an afternoon news conference showed falling charred fireworks mortars, canisters and other explosive devices piled up in the back of the truck. The walls of the truck bed were still intact because the explosion shot upward and not sideways.
Musk said Wednesday afternoon on “All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”
In a previous post on the platform, Musk said that throughout his senior tenure he was investigating the explosion, adding: “We’ve never seen anything like this.”
Musk has recently become a member of Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk were in Las Vegas early Wednesday morning. Both had attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at Trump’s estate in South Florida.
Musk spent approximately $250 million during the presidential campaign to support the former president. He was at Trump’s resort on election night and has been a frequent guest there. Trump appointed Musk, the world’s richest man, to co-lead a new effort to find ways to reduce the size and spending of the government.
“This is a Tesla truck, and we know that Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump, and it’s Trump Tower,” McMahill said when reporters asked about possible political connections. “So obviously there are things to worry about and it’s something we continue to look at.”
The truck explosion came hours after a driver plowed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people before being shot dead by police. . That accident was being investigated as a terrorist attack and police believe the driver did not act alone.
“We are absolutely investigating any connection to what happened in New Orleans, as well as other attacks that have been happening around the world,” McMahill said. “We’re not ruling anything out.”
In a statement, Turo said it was working with authorities.
“We do not believe that any of the tenants involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had criminal records that would have identified them as a security threat,” the statement said.
In Las Vegas, witness Ana Bruce, visiting from Brazil, said she heard three explosions.
“The first one where we saw the fire, the second one, I guess, was the battery or something, and the third one was the big one that smoked the whole area and was the time when everyone was told to evacuate and stay away. ”Bruce said.
His traveling companion, Alcides Antunes, showed a video he took of the flames licking the sides of the silver vehicle.
The 64-story hotel is just off the Las Vegas Strip and across from the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping center.
Eric Trump, the president-elect’s son and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, posted about the fire on the social media platform X. He praised the fire department and local authorities “for their quick response and professionalism.”
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Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Zeke Miller in Washington and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report. Snow reported from Phoenix.
