U.S. security authorities are investigating whether the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas might have been a terrorist attack.
FBI lead agent Jeremy Schwartz said this on Wednesday at a news conference. The explosion killed the Cybertruck’s driver and slightly injured seven, the Las Vegas police said. Schwartz did not provide details about the person killed in the explosion.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters at a separate news conference that authorities do know the name of the person who rented the truck and he acknowledged that a name is floating around social media, but would not comment further.
He said it is important that next of kin be notified and that “we have a 100 per cent identification.” He did say that the truck was rented in Colorado and arrived in Las Vegas around 7:30 am (1550 GMT) on Wednesday and drove up and down Las Vegas Boulevard before then driving to the hotel.
The vehicle stopped directly in front of the glass entrance doors of the luxurious building on Wednesday morning and exploded about 20 seconds after stopping, McMahill said. His office has not yet determined what triggered the explosion, as the vehicle has not yet been processed.
He showed surveillance footage showing smoke emanating from the vehicle, which culminated in a powerful detonation. Later, additional drone footage captured the aftermath. The images revealed the charred remnants of several petrol canisters and fireworks. The electric vehicle was completely destroyed by the fire.
The vehicle involved in the Trump hotel incident had been rented through the same rental website used by the New Orleans attacker, who drove a pick-up truck into a crowd celebrating on New Year’s morning, killing 15 people, McMahill said.
A potential connection to the explosion in Las Vegas, which occurred only a few hours later, is being examined, the sheriff said.
“We are not ruling anything out.” There are currently no indications of a connection to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization, as had been suggested in New Orleans.
“There was no overt ISIS flag as was seen in New Orleans,” McMahill said, but stressed that the investigation is looking at all angles.
McMahill said there is no further threat to the community and his office believes any danger to the public from this attack is over.
