one Tesla An electric truck exploded and caught fire outside the entrance to the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, killing one person inside and injuring several people nearby, local officials said.
Three senior law enforcement officials with knowledge of the matter told NBC News that the suspicious explosion is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack. A motive has not yet been determined.
The blast occurred hours after the driver of a rental pickup truck flying an ISIS flag was hit. New Year’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Street In New Orleans, he killed at least 15 people and injured more than 30 before being shot dead by police.
Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sergeant Kevin McMahill said the pickup truck and the Tesla in the Las Vegas explosion were purchased from the same company, Turo Rented.
“I don’t know,” McMahill said at a news conference when asked whether the two incidents were related. “But we are investigating whether there is any connection.”
Turo said in a statement that the company is actively assisting investigators.
“We do not believe any of the tenants involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks have a criminal background and do not view them as a security threat,” the company said.
McMahill said officials knew the Tesla was rented in Colorado but declined to name the people who died in the fire.
“We do know who rented the truck,” he said, adding that they found no connection to ISIS or any other terrorist group.
Acting FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Schwartz added: “We believe this to be an isolated incident.”
McMahill said officials were able to track the Tesla’s route to Las Vegas with the help of Tesla Chief Executive Musk, who provided video of Tesla’s Cybertruck charging station.
The Tesla arrived in Las Vegas at 7:30 a.m. and exploded an hour later, about 15 seconds after arriving at the hotel, the sheriff said.
McMahill showed video of the explosion at an evening news conference. “So the people in the truck were obviously dead,” he said.
Previously, Musk, a senior adviser to Trump, insisted to X that the explosion had nothing to do with the vehicle.
Musk declared: “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the cabin of the rented Cybertruck and had nothing to do with the vehicle itself.” “All vehicle telemetry results at the time of the explosion were Positive.”
McMahill confirmed there were gasoline cans and a large pyrotechnic mortar in the back of the truck.
“I don’t know how they were set on fire,” the sergeant said. “We can’t deal with the car yet.”
McMahill also reiterated that “there does not appear to be any further threat to our community at this time.”
At the same time, a spokesman for the New York City Police Department said that as a precautionary measure, New York City sent additional police officers to Trump Tower and expanded security to keep the public and traffic away from the building.
Chicago police confirmed that security measures at the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago have also been increased.
Police said the explosion occurred outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas around 8:40 a.m. local time.
“We were told that a 2024 Cybertruck was parked in front of the hotel, and in fact, I can tell you, it was parked directly in front of the hotel,” McMahill said at an earlier press conference. “We saw smoke coming from the vehicle and then the truck exploded. “
Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Touchstone said that as first responders began extinguishing the blaze, they “simultaneously realized there were multiple injuries surrounding the vehicle.”
Of the seven injured, two were taken to the University of Southern Nevada Medical Center in Las Vegas, Touchstone said. But he said all seven injuries were minor.
