Officials have confirmed that the man who rented the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas was a US special forces soldier on active duty.

Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, has been identified by Las Vegas police as the driver who rented the car and drove it from Colorado to Las Vegas.

Although they are awaiting DNA evidence to confirm it, officials stated they are fairly certain he was discovered dead in the car following the explosion.

According to Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill, the body inside the car was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and was completely burned.

The car, which was loaded with firework mortars and fuel canisters, exploded on New Year’s Day, injuring seven people. All injuries were minor, according to officials.

According to police, the Cybertruck entered the city on Wednesday morning, less than two hours prior to the explosion. The car began to smoke and then exploded while parked in front of the hotel close to a glass entrance.

According to authorities, they have not yet identified a motive for the incident.

“I’m comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately after,” Sheriff McMahill stated at the press conference on Thursday.

Investigators found a military ID, a passport, fireworks, two semi-automatic pistols, an iPhone, a smart watch, and multiple credit cards in Livelsberger’s name inside the burned-out car, according to the sheriff.

According to Mr. McMahill, two tattoos that matched Livelsberger’s were discovered on the driver’s remains.

On December 28, the Colorado Springs native rented the Cybertruck in Denver.

Several photos taken during the drive from Denver, Colorado to Las Vegas, Nevada, allowed police to follow his movements. The only person seen operating the car was him.

According to Mr. McMahill, there are a number of similarities—but no clear connection—between the suspects in the New Year’s Day truck attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people and the incident in Las Vegas.

Although there is no evidence that they were in the same unit or at Fort Bragg at the same time, both suspects served there in North Carolina. Although there is no proof that they were in the same area or unit, they both served in Afghanistan in 2009.

According to Mr. McMahill, both also rented the cars used in the incidents from Turo.

“We don’t believe there’s any further threat from this subject or anybody associated to him here in Las Vegas,” he stated.

Livelsberger served in the Army and National Guard, giving him decades of experience with the US military. He was a Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant with distinction.

At the time of the incident, he was on authorized leave while serving in Germany.

Livelsberger’s father informed CBS, a news partner of the BBC, that his son was visiting his wife and daughter, who is eight months old, in Colorado.

He claimed that everything appeared to be normal when he last spoke to his son, which was around Christmas.