• Experts told BI the explosives detonated in an apparent attack outside a Trump hotel didn't appear sophisticated.
• One explosives expert said the incident, where the driver was an active-duty Army service member, appeared "poorly executed."
• Authorities said the explosives were "not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience."

Explosive experts told Business Insider the damage from the materials detonated inside a Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas would likely have been worse if the items used had been more sophisticated.

The explosive-laden Cybertruck, which authorities say carried gasoline tanks, camping fuel, and large firework mortars, injured at least seven people. The driver, an active-duty Army service member named Matthew Alan Livelsberger, shot himself moments before the explosives detonated on Wednesday, authorities said.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to social media in the wake of the incident to praise the Cybertruck's design and suggest it helped limit the damage of the explosion.

Nick Glumac, a mechanical science and engineering professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told BI that the volume of the explosion was likely due to the types of explosives used. Glumac said this was a "poorly executed" incident if the intent was to cause major damage.

"It would be very difficult to get the types of fuels here to make into a large scale destruction kind of event," Glumac said.

Glumac said similar improvised explosive device blasts look very different from what occurred on January 1. He also pointed to the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995, when Army veteran Timothy McVeigh detonated an explosive-laden rental truck that killed 168 people and reduced a third of the federal building to rubble.

"That was very carefully planned. They knew what they were doing," Glumac said about the Oklahoma City Bombing, adding that the Cybertruck explosion on January 1, by contrast, appeared "very improvised."

'The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience'

Car and truck bombs were a key feature of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to which the suspect deployed at least three times. In many of those instances, vehicles were packed with enough explosives to blast fortified positions or take down buildings. The war in Ukraine has similarly suggested that heavily armored vehicles and tanks can be used as rolling car bombs.

Officials spoke about the explosive materials used in the incident during a Thursday press conference.

"The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience," Kenny Cooper, an assistant special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said at a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police press conference, adding that most of the materials in the vehicle were to "help fuel a greater explosion."

Ali Rangwala, a fire protection engineering professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, said that the driver may have miscalculated the explosion, and it might not have been released instantaneously.

"Some of the explosives might not have triggered on time systematically," Rangwala said.

"The only way to create an instantaneous energy release, as in the case of a bomb, is for all of the energetic material to ignite in micro- or milli-seconds," Jim Wesevich, a global service line leader of forensics at safety and security firm Jensen Hughes, told BI in written commentary.

A military official told BI that Livelsberger "wasn't a bomb maker." But his military occupational specialty (MOS) within the 10th Special Forces Group was 18Z, making him a special forces operations sergeant, which the Army says, "trains and maintains proficiency in all major duties associated with Special Forces."

Cooper said it was too early to know if there was "sophisticated connectivity" to the components or to "give any determination" as to how the explosion was initiated. Officials said they discovered consumer fireworks, mortars, aerial shells, fuel enhancers, and explosive targets that Cooper said could be purchased at "any sporting goods store."

Experts say a vehicle's design may shape the trajectory of a blast

Elon Musk, in a social media post Wednesday, called the Cybertruck the "worst possible choice for a car bomb, as its stainless steel armor will contain the blast better than any other commercial vehicle."

Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said the Cybertruck's design helped limit the explosion.

"The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside of the valet because it had most of the blast go up and through the truck and out," McMahill said in a briefing.

Rangwala said the damage may have been partly limited because a Cybertruck's roof, which includes a large glass pane, would clear pressure from inside the vehicle early in the explosion. The pressure from an explosion would be felt on all sides equally if it wasn't relieved by going upward through the roof, he said.

Glumac and Brian Meacham, an engineer and director of risk and regulatory consulting at Crux Consulting LLC who spoke to BI over email, said that they would have expected similar scenarios if the incident took place in a traditional pickup truck.

Michael Villahermosa, a US Army commander with a background in explosive ordnance disposal, said on X that photos of the items used in the blast suggest the explosives were "poorly constructed and poorly thought out."

As he said on X, "People are using the Las Vegas bombing to show the quality of the Cybertruck," when, in his view, "it shows the quality of the explosive device that was used."

Staff writer Ryan Pickrell contributed to this report.

Officials believe the driver of the Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas was Matthew Alan Livelberger, a US Army soldier who shot himself in the head moments before the blast.

• The Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas was rented on Turo, the car-sharing company said.
• The app was also used to rent the truck used in the New Orleans attack.
• President Joe Biden said authorities were looking into whether the two incidents were connected.

The Tesla Cybertruck that exploded on Wednesday in Las Vegas was rented on Turo, the same car-sharing app used to rent the pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack early Wednesday.

In a statement on its website on Wednesday, Turo confirmed the vehicles involved in both incidents were rented through its service.

"Our trust and safety team is actively partnering with law enforcement authorities to share any information that could be helpful in their investigations," the statement read. "We do not believe that either renter had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat, and we are not currently aware of any information that indicates the two incidents are related."

Shamsud-Din Jabbar has been identified as the suspect in the deadly New Orleans attack. Jabbar's criminal record, obtained from the Texas Department of Public Safety and viewed by Business Insider, shows two prior arrests in 2002 and 2005.

The first was for theft, while the other was for driving with an invalid license. Both were classified as misdemeanors.

Celebrity-backed company

Turo lets private car owners rent out their vehicles. It's similar to Airbnb or Vrbo but for vehicles instead of homes.

The San Francisco-based company offers a wide range of cars, including Toyotas, Porsches, and Teslas, and is active in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and France.

Investors include the venture arms of American Express, BMW, and Liberty Mutual and top venture-capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins and Google Ventures. Celebrities such as the rapper 2 Chainz and NBA and NFL players have also invested.

Turo has close to 1,000 employees and was valued at $1.5 billion in 2020, per PitchBook. The company, which was founded in 2009, registered for an initial public offering in 2021 but hasn't yet gone public.

The company had 360,000 cars listed on its platform at the end of 2023, and about 3.7 million people booked cars that year, according to a March 2024 filing. In that filing, Turo said customers' actions that result in criminal activity could affect the company's reputation and create legal liabilities — a standard line in these documents.

The company wrote that it had no control over — or the ability to predict — the actions of car renters, who it calls guests.

"We cannot conclusively verify the identity of all guests, nor do we verify or screen third parties who may be present during a trip using a vehicle booked through our platform," the March filing said. "Our trust and safety processes focus primarily on guests to reduce the risk of vehicle theft and motor vehicle accidents."

The company reported nearly $880 million in revenue in 2023, an 18% year-over-year growth. It posted $14.7 million in profits, a sharp fall from $154.7 million in 2022. Losses and high costs are common for growing tech companies, especially those that aren't yet public.

Authorities are investigating possible connections between attacks

In a press conference Wednesday, President Joe Biden said authorities were investigating whether there was any connection between the Las Vegas explosion and the New Orleans attack.

Kevin McMahill, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sheriff, said at a press conference that the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck was killed and that seven others were injured after the vehicle exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

"We're very well aware of what has happened in New Orleans with the event that occurred there, and the number of victims there and the additional IEDs," McMahill said, referring to the attack in New Orleans that killed 15 on Wednesday morning. "So, as you can imagine, with an explosion here on iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking all of the precautions that we need to take to keep our community safe."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on X that the explosion was "caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb" in the bed of the Cybertruck.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

• One person is dead and seven injured after a Tesla Cybertruck caught fire and exploded, authorities said.
• The explosion occurred Wednesday outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas.
• The FBI is trying to determine whether it was an act of terrorism.

One person is dead and seven are injured after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, authorities said Wednesday.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sheriff, Kevin McMahill, said at a press conference that a person inside the vehicle was killed and that the other injuries had been reported to him as "minor." He said the incident didn't appear to pose any further threat to the community.

"We do know who rented the truck," McMahill said. "We are looking at that individual, but I am not prepared to release the name of any of the individuals that we are looking at, at least until next of kin is notified and we have a 100% identification."

Jeremy Schwartz, the acting special agent in charge for the FBI's Las Vegas office, said his agency was trying to "determine whether this was an act of terrorism or not."

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that authorities were investigating whether there was any connection between the Las Vegas explosion and the New Orleans attack that killed 15 on Wednesday morning.

McMahill said both the Cybertruck and the New Orleans attack vehicle were rented using the car-sharing app Turo.

In a statement shared on its website on Wednesday, Turo confirmed that both vehicles were rented through its service.

"Our trust and safety team is actively partnering with law enforcement authorities to share any information that could be helpful in their investigations," the statement read.

The police say they found gasoline canisters and fireworks in the car

At a press conference, McMahill described the scene of the incident.

"At 8:40 a.m. Las Vegas time, we received a report of an explosion and a fire at the Trump Towers," McMahill said. "We were told that a 2024 Cybertruck pulled up to the front of the hotel, and in fact, I can tell you that it pulled right up to the glass entrance doors of the hotel. We saw that smoke starts showing from the vehicle, and then a large explosion from the truck occurs."

McMahill said the Cybertruck's cargo bed contained gasoline canisters, fuel canisters, and "large mortar fireworks."

"The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside of the valet because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out," McMahill said.

McMahill also thanked Tesla CEO Elon Musk for his help in the investigation, including gathering video footage from Tesla charging stations.

McMahill said the Trump hotel would remain closed for the time being. He said the "vast majority" of the people staying at the Trump hotel had moved to the Resorts World Las Vegas hotel.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.