The man who was driving a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Jan. 1 shot himself in the head immediately before the vehicle was engulfed by fire, the authorities said last week.
Military officials identified the driver as an Army master sergeant based in Germany who had been on leave in the United States. He was found with two semiautomatic handguns that had been lawfully purchased on Dec. 30.
After gaining access to the driver’s phone and conducting interviews with relatives and others who knew him, the authorities said that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Here is what we know so far.
What happened on the morning of the explosion?
At about 8:40 a.m. local time on Jan. 1, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received a report of an explosion at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, a 64-story tower on Fashion Show Drive, which is just off the Las Vegas Strip.
A 2024 Tesla Cybertruck had “pulled up to the glass entrance doors of the hotel,” according to Sheriff Kevin McMahill, before it exploded. Witnesses saw the vehicle engulfed in flames as it sat in front of the hotel.
After firefighters extinguished the blaze, the authorities said that they found fuel canisters, fireworks and two semiautomatic handguns. They said they did not know how the explosion had been ignited.
