By Ray Sanchez for CNN
The Tesla Cybertruck after it exploded outside Las Vegas Trump hotel. Photo: WADE VANDERVORT/AFP
Warning: This story discusses mental health and suicide
A Bronze Star recipient who exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas wrote of "political grievances", armed conflicts elsewhere and domestic issues in the days leading up to his suicide, officials say.
The writings were found in the cellphone of Matthew Alan Livelsberger, the truck's driver, said Sheriff Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in a news conference.
In his writings, the driver of the Cybertruck said the incident was intended not as a "terrorist attack" but rather "a wake-up call", according to police. He wrote in a letter recovered by investigators that "Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence" and "fireworks and explosives" were best to get his point across.
Livelsberger wrote that he needed to "cleanse" his mind of the "brothers I've lost" and relieve himself of "the burden of the lives I took". He said the US was "terminally ill and headed towards collapse".
The Cybertruck was detonated outside a Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, local time. Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado, died in the incident and seven others were injured. Authorities on Friday said his identity had been confirmed through tattoos and DNA from relatives.
Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Las Vegas Division, said the incident appeared to be "a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who was struggling with PTSD and other issues".
The Las Vegas incident occurred on the same morning as a deadly attack in New Orleans, in which a driver with a US military background plowed a rented pickup truck into a crowd celebrating New Year's on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people. Authorities do not believe the incidents are related, though both perpetrators used the same company to rent their vehicles.
An image of Matthew Alan Livelsberger driver’s license photo is displayed on a monitor as Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill speaks about the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded on New Year's Day. Photo: ETHAN MILLER / AAFP
Evans said "other family issues or personal grievances in his own life ... may have been contributing factors" in the man's actions in Las Vegas.
"It's evident that the subject considered, planned and thoughtfully prepared for this act alone," he added.
Investigators said they were still pouring over "a lot of content" related to the case, including two cell phones and other evidence.
An active-duty US Army Green Beret, Livelsberger was on leave from his base in Germany at the time of the blast, sources told CNN. The explosion was caused by a combination of fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel in the bed of the vehicle detonated by a device controlled by the driver.
In a 10-day "journal of activity" or "surveillance log" kept on one of his phones - from 21 December to 31 December - investigators said Livelsberger chronicled his purchases of firearms, camping equipment and other items.
A family member and former Army colleague described Livelsberger as a highly decorated combat veteran who loved his country as well as President-elect Donald Trump.
- CNN
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