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Person in Cybertruck killed, seven injured in blast

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FBI investigating motive, possible terrorism link

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Incident occurred hours after man drove truck into crowd

in New

Orleans

By Ronda Churchill, David Shepardson and Karen Brettell

LAS VEGAS, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating

whether there is any connection between the explosion of a Tesla

Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas and a

New Orleans truck attack that killed 15 people on New Year's

Day, officials said.

Gasoline canisters and large firework mortars were packed

into the Cybertruck that burst into flames shortly after a

driver intentionally drove a pickup truck into crowds

celebrating the new year in the French Quarter of New Orleans,

according to officials.

The sole occupant of the truck was found dead inside and

seven people sustained minor injuries, the Las Vegas

Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement.

The FBI has identified the person driving the vehicle but was

not ready to release that information, FBI special agent in

charge Jeremy Schwartz told reporters on Wednesday.

The FBI did not return a request for more information on

Thursday.

The incident occurred just hours after a man drove a truck into

crowds of New Year's Day revelers in New Orleans, killing 15.

Officials have not established a link between the events.

Videos taken by witnesses inside and outside the Las Vegas

hotel showed the vehicle exploding and flames pouring out of it,

as it sat outside the hotel at around 8:40 a.m. local time (1640

GMT) Wednesday.

A Trump spokesman did not return a request for comment

Thursday on the Cybertruck incident. Eric Trump praised Las

Vegas fire and law enforcement officials on Wednesday for their

quick action on the explosion.

'LOTS OF QUESTIONS'

The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is part of the Trump

Organization, the company of President-elect Donald Trump, who

will return to the White House on Jan. 20. Tesla CEO

Elon Musk was a key backer of Trump in his 2024 presidential

campaign and is also an adviser to the incoming president.

"Obviously a Cybertruck, the Trump hotel - there's lots of

questions that we have to answer," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police

Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference.

Police said the truck was rented in Colorado, arrived in Las

Vegas at around 7:30 a.m. and drove through the city's famed

Strip, lined with hotels, casinos and entertainment venues,

until it reached the hotel, where it stopped in the valet area.

"Detectives found gasoline canisters and large firework

mortars in the bed of the truck," a police statement said.

Schwartz, the FBI special agent in charge, said it was not

yet clear whether the blast was an act of terrorism.

Musk said the blast was unrelated to the 2024 model-year

Cybertruck itself.

"We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very

large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented

Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself," Musk said in

a post on X. "All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of

the explosion."

Telemetry involves the automatic collection of data from

remote sources, transmitting it back to a central source so it

can later be analyzed.

Both the Cybertruck and the vehicle used in the New Orleans

attack had been rented through car-sharing service Turo,

McMahill said.

A Turo spokesperson said the company did not believe either

of the renters of the vehicles involved in the Las Vegas and New

Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have

identified them as a security threat.

The Trump Hotel was evacuated after the incident and most of

the visitors were moved to another hotel.