The decorated Green Beret who died by suicide in a blazing Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), investigators said on Friday, saying they had found no links to “terrorist” groups.
Matthew Livelsberger, 37, a member of the elite US special forces, shot himself on New Year’s Day in the rented Tesla vehicle filled with fuel containers and fireworks, which exploded. Seven people nearby in the valet area of the glass-fronted Trump International Hotel were wounded in the blast.
“Although this incident is more public and more sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who was struggling with PTSD and other issues,” FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans told a news conference on Friday.
Photo: AFP
Investigators said that they were still examining Livelsberger’s devices, but that so far they had found two letters on his phone in which he spoke of the “burden” of having taken lives, among other issues.
Though the truck exploded outside the Trump-branded hotel in Las Vegas, part-owned by US president-elect Donald Trump’s family business, Livelsberger “held no animosity” toward the Republican, Evans said.
He said investigators have “not identified any connection between this subject and any other terrorist organization.”
Some personal and family issues might have contributed to the incident, he said.
Livelsberger’s body was burned beyond recognition, but Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said authorities had confirmed via dental records and DNA that he was indeed the person who died inside the Cybertruck.
He said investigators were still working to establish the exact sequence of events in the Cybertruck, but for now it appeared that Livelsberger shooting himself dead and the blast which ignited the truck were “simultaneous.”
Evans also said again that investigators have found no link between the blast and the deadly attack in New Orleans which also took place on Wednesday.
In that attack, a US army veteran loyal to the Islamic State rammed a crowd of New Year’s revelers with a truck, killing 14 before being shot dead by police.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
A grieving mother has ended her life at a clinic in Switzerland four years after the death of her only child. Wendy Duffy, 56, a physically healthy woman, died at the Pegasos clinic in Basel after struggling to cope with the death of her 23-year-old son, Marcus. The former care worker, from the West Midlands, England, had previously attempted to take her own life. The case comes as assisted dying would not become law in England and Wales after proposed legislation, branded “hopelessly flawed” by opponents, ran out of time. Ruedi Habegger, the founder of Pegasos, described Duffy’s death as
From post offices and parks to stations and even the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s vending machines are ubiquitous, but with the rapid pace of inflation cooling demand for their drinks, operators are being forced to rethink the business. Last month beverage giant DyDo Group Holdings announced it would remove about 20,000 vending machines — about 7 percent of their stock nationwide — by January next year, to “reconstruct a profitable network.” Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage, based in Nagoya, also said last month it would sell its 40,000-machine operation to Osaka-based Lifedrink Co. “The strength of the vending machine
RSS