The Tesla Cybertruck explosion at Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas was intentional, and reportedly is being investigated as a potential act of terrorism.
The vehicle burst into flames and exploded outside the hotel’s entrance Wednesday, killing one person inside and injuring seven bystanders at around 8:41 a.m. local time, according to the Clark County Fire Department PulsePoint map.
The blast happened just hours after a U.S. military vet carrying an ISIS flag plowed through a crowd of New Year’s partiers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 15 and wounding 35.
Tessa CEO Elon Musk noted the explosion was the result of large fireworks or a bomb inside the bed of the truck, and not the vehicle itself.
“All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” Mr. Musk posted on X.
He later wrote that the Las Vegas attack “appears likely to be an act of terrorism. Both this Cybertruck and the F-150 suicide bomb in New Orleans were rented from Turo. Perhaps they are linked in some way.”
Las Vegas Metropolitan Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters that the 2024 truck “pulled up to the front of the hotel, and in fact, I can tell you, it pulled right up to the glass entrance doors of the hotel. We saw that smoke start showing from the vehicle, and then a large explosion from the truck.”
Jeremy N. Schwartz, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Las Vegas, said agents are helping with the investigation but could not offer much information to the public.
When Sheriff McMahill was asked at a Wednesday evening press conference about the New Orleans attack, he parried but did not rule out a connection.
“Do I think it’s a coincidence? I don’t know,” he said. “But what I can tell you is we’re absolutely investigating any connectivity to what happened in New Orleans, as well as other attacks that have been occurring around the world. We’re not ruling anything out yet.”
The Tesla truck was rented through the Turo app, the same one used to rent the pickup truck, an electric-powered Ford F-150, used in the New Orleans attack.
Officials have not yet confirmed the identity of the driver in the Cybertruck, though they said they think they know.
“The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage … it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out” instead of out into the hotel lobby, the sheriff said.
“In fact, if you look on that video, you’ll see that the front glass doors at the Trump Hotel were not even broken by that blast, which they were parked directly in front of.”
Mr. Musk responded to Sheriff McMahill’s comments about the Cybertruck’s capability to limit the damage at the hotel.
“The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards,” he said. “Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.