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A Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in front of Trump International Hotel Las VegasAuthorities said the fire, which killed one person and injured seven others, included gasoline and camp fuel containers and large fireworks mortars.
Sheriff of Las Vegas Kevin McMahill said during a press conference Wednesday that investigators know who rented the Cybertruck purchased in Colorado, but they are unwilling to identify that person without 100% certainty.
McMahill also said investigators were able to track the truck through Tesla charging stations. License plate readers in Las Vegas first spotted the vehicle around 7:30 a.m., and McMahill said it drove up and down Las Vegas Boulevard before entering the valet parking area of the Trump Hotel.
Within 15 to 20 seconds of him arriving at the hotel, the vehicle exploded, the sheriff added.
1 DEAD, 7 INJURED AFTER TESLA CYBERTRUCK EXPLODE OUTSIDE TRUMP HOTEL IN LAS VEGAS: POLICE
1 dead, 7 injured after Tesla Cybertruck catches fire outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas (Getty Images/Alcides Antunes)
During the press conference, the sheriff showed video of the truck’s bed, showing it filled with gas cans, camp fuel cans and large firework mortars.
The sheriff also pointed to the exterior of the truck and that it was still completely intact after the explosion.
“The fact that it was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside the vehicle because most of the explosion went up and out through the truck,” McMahill said. “If you watch this video, you’ll actually see that the glass doors at the front of the Trump Hotel weren’t even broken by the explosion.”
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Las Vegas police responded to a vehicle fire at Trump Tower in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning. (Chris Saad via Storyful)
Although the glass doors were not damaged by the explosion, seven people sustained minor injuries and were taken to a nearby hospital.
All guests at the hotel have been accommodated in another hotel while the investigation into the explosion continues.
Like McMahill, Jeremy Schwartz, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI The officer in charge in Las Vegas would not identify the person in the vehicle, saying, “Our primary goal is to ensure that we can properly identify the person involved in the incident.”
The second goal, Schwartz said, is to determine whether the explosion was an act of terrorism, which is being investigated by a joint terrorism task force.
An investigator photographs a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas on January 1, 2025. At least one person was killed and seven injured when a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a hotel owned by US President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas, police said on Wednesday. (Photo by WADE VANDERVORT/AFP via Getty Images)
The special agent said the task force consists of police officers from the area.
“We don’t do anything together, and we wouldn’t do anything alone without our partners making sure we’re all in sync,” Schwartz said. “We have learned from the mistakes of the past and we will not do that again.”
The Cybertruck explosion was the second suspicious fatal incident in a major city since early 2025.
Officials move sugar bowl after apparent terrorist attack on Bourbon Street
Investigators examine the crime scene after a person drove a vehicle into a crowd on Canal and Bourbon Streets in New Orleans on Wednesday, January 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Early Wednesday morning, a man later identified as Shamsud Din Jabbar drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people on New Orleans’ famed Bourbon Street, killing over a dozen people and injuring dozens more.
The truck Din Jabbar was driving was rented from peer-to-peer car rental company Turo, as was the Cybertruck that burst into flames in Las Vegas. There was also an ISIS flag on the trailer hitch of Din Jabbar’s rented vehicle.
Schwartz said the FBI believes the Las Vegas explosion was an isolated incident.
Suspect identified as FBI investigates act of terrorism following Bourbon Street attack
Investigators photograph a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas on January 1, 2025. At least one person was killed and seven injured when a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a hotel owned by US President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas, police said on Wednesday. (Photo by WADE VANDERVORT/AFP via Getty Images)
“We don’t think there are a lot of people out there supporting this or helping with this, and we don’t think there’s any other danger to the community right now,” he said, assuring the community that in the next few hours and… the case will be days, they will do their best to get to the bottom of the incident.
McMahill said he didn’t know if there was a connection between the two but wouldn’t rule it out. He also said the Cybertruck did not have an ISIS flag like the truck in New Orleans, but every aspect was being investigated.
The previous preliminary investigation included contributions from Elon Musk, CEO of Teslawho, according to McMahill, gave quite a bit of information about how the vehicle was locked after the explosion due to the force of the explosion.
Musk also helped capture surveillance footage of Tesla charging stations across the country.
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The billionaire kept his followers updated about the Cybertruck explosion on his social media platform X.
“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the back of the rented Cybertruck and was unrelated to the vehicle itself. All telemetry data from the vehicle was positive at the time of the explosion,” Musk wrote in a post.
“The evil Knuckleheads chose the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. The Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upward,” he said in another post. “Not even the lobby glass doors were broken.”
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President Biden also commented on the explosion in Las Vegas.
“We’re tracking the explosion of a cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas,” he said, discussing the fatal crash in New Orleans. “Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are also investigating this and are also examining whether there is a possible connection to the attack in New Orleans. So far there is nothing to report on this at the moment.”
