The Tesla Cyber truck that exploded in front of Trump International Airport Las Vegas hotelAuthorities said the explosion, which killed one person and injured seven others, contained containers of gasoline and camp fuel, as well as large mortar shells for fireworks.
Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a press conference on Wednesday that investigators know who rented the Cybertruck, which was obtained in Colorado, although they are not ready to identify that person without being 100% sure.
McMahill also said investigators were able to track the truck through Tesla charging stations. License plate readers in Las Vegas first spotted the car at about 7:30 a.m., and McMahill said it traveled up and down Las Vegas Boulevard before stopping in a valet area at the Trump Hotel.
Al-Sharif added that within 15 to 20 seconds of stopping at the hotel, the car exploded.
One dead and 7 injured after a Tesla truck explodes outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas: police
One person was killed and 7 injured after a Tesla truck caught fire outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas (Getty Images/Alcides Antunes)
During the press conference, Al-Sharif showed a video clip of the truck bed, which showed that it was filled with gasoline cylinders, camp fuel bombs, and large mortar shells for fireworks.
But Al-Sharif also pointed out the exterior of the truck and how it remained completely intact after the explosion.
“The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside the truck because most of the explosion traveled through the truck and outside of the truck,” McMahill said. “In fact, if you look at this video, you'll see that the front glass doors at the Trump Hotel weren't even broken by the explosion.”
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Las Vegas police responded to a car fire at Trump Tower in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning. (Chris Saad via Storyful)
The explosion did not damage the glass doors, but seven people were slightly injured and were taken to a nearby hospital.
All hotel guests were transferred to another hotel while the investigation into the explosion continues.
Like McMahill, Jeremy Schwartz, FBI Special Agent The Las Vegas official did not identify the person inside the car, saying: “Our first goal is to ensure that we obtain the correct identity of the person involved in the accident.”
The second goal is to determine whether the explosion was an act of terrorism, which is being investigated by a joint terrorism task force, Schwartz said.
An investigator photographs the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel on January 1, 2025, in Las Vegas. At least one person was killed and seven others were injured when a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a hotel belonging to US President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas, police said on Wednesday. (Photo by Wade Vandervoort/AFP via Getty Images)
The task force is made up of law enforcement officials from the area, the special agent said.
“We don't do anything along the way, and we won't do anything on our own without our partners making sure we're all on the same page,” Schwartz said. “We have learned from past mistakes, and we will not do that again.”
The Cybertruck explosion was the second suspicious fatal accident in a major city since the beginning of 2025.
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Investigators work the scene after a person drove a car into a crowd of people earlier at Canal and Bourbon streets in New Orleans, Wednesday, January 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Early Wednesday morning, a man later identified as Shams al-Din Jabbar drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people on New Orleans' famous Bourbon Street, killing more than a dozen people and wounding dozens more.
The truck that Dean Jabbar drove was rented from car rental company Turo, as was the Cybertruck that caught fire in Las Vegas. Dean Jabbar's rental car also had an ISIS flag on the trailer hitch.
Schwartz said the FBI believes the explosion in Las Vegas was an isolated incident.
Investigators photograph the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel on January 1, 2025, in Las Vegas. At least one person was killed and seven others were injured when a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a hotel belonging to US President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas, police said on Wednesday. (Photo by Wade Vandervoort/AFP via Getty Images)
“We do not believe there is a group of people supporting or assisting in this, and we do not believe there is any further danger to the community at this time,” he said, reassuring the community that over the next few hours and days, they will do what they can to get to the bottom of the incident.
McMahill said he doesn't know whether the two are related or not but he wouldn't rule it out. He also said the e-truck did not have an ISIS flag like the truck in New Orleans, but that every aspect of it was being investigated.
The initial investigation up to this point has included input from Tesla CEO Elon Muskwhich McMahill said provided a great deal of information about how the car locked after it exploded due to the force of the explosion.
Musk also helped when it came to capturing surveillance footage from Tesla charging stations across the country.
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The billionaire kept his followers updated with the latest news of the Cybertruck explosion on his social media platform X.
“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by a very large fireworks and/or bomb carried in the bed of a rented Cybertruck and had nothing to do with the vehicle itself. All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” Musk wrote. In one post.
“Evil idiots chose the wrong vehicle to carry out a terrorist attack. The Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards,” he said in another post. “Even the lobby's glass doors weren't broken.”
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President Biden also commented on the Las Vegas explosion.
“We are tracking an electronic truck explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas,” he said while talking about the deadly incident that occurred in New Orleans. He added: “Law enforcement and the intelligence community are investigating this as well, including whether there is any possible connection to the attack in New Orleans. As of now, there is nothing to report on this outcome at this time.”
