A Tesla Cybertruck that exploded and burst into flames Wednesday morning just outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas has left one person dead and several injured, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Seven people suffered minor injuries, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a media briefing Wednesday.
McMahill did not identify the individual who was killed. However, in a second briefing held late afternoon Wednesday, McMahill provided new information, including that the Cybertruck was rented in Colorado via peer-to-peer rental company Turo and driven to Las Vegas, arriving around 7:30 a.m. PT. The individual drove the Cybertruck through the Las Vegas Strip until it reached the hotel where the incident occurred, he said.
Police know the identity of the person who rented the vehicle and McMahill said they are looking at that individual. “I am not prepared to release the name of any of the individuals that we are looking at least until next of kin is notified and we have a 100% identification,” he added.
Detectives found gasoline canisters and large firework mortars in the bed of the truck. McMahill said the structure of the Cybertruck “limited the damage” that occurred inside of the valet because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out.
An eyewitness who captured the fire from inside the hotel lobby and posted it on X, said the vehicle pulled up outside and then “blew up.” The video, and others like it, quickly spread on X.
Law enforcement continues to investigate a number of leads, McMahill said. Gov. Joe Lombardo said his office was coordinating with LVMPD and partner agencies.
During both media briefings, McMahill referenced the fatal attack that occurred Wednesday morning in New Orleans and killed at least 15 people. He didn’t make an implicit connection to the attack, but said law enforcement was taking precautions. McMahill noted that both vehicles, the Cybertruck and a Ford truck in New Orleans, were rented via Turo.
“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,” he said during the Wednesday afternoon press conference. “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.”
McMahill said law enforcement was looking for secondary devices, adding there does not appear to be any further threat to the Las Vegas community. “If that changes, obviously you will hear directly from me to provide any update to you,” he said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted several notes on X, initially stating that the “whole senior Tesla team is investigating” the incident. “Will post more information as soon as we learn anything. We’ve never seen anything like this,” Musk wrote.
Musk later posted that the vehicle was operating as normal, according to telemetry data he said the Tesla team viewed.
“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself. All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” he wrote.
McMahill personally thanked Musk for providing law enforcement with specific information about the operation of the Cybertruck as well as video from Tesla charging stations used by the individual.
The incident comes as Musk, who also owns X, maintains a close connection to President-elect Donald Trump. A review of Musk’s flight data showed at least 31 flights to or from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. This week, the NYT reported that Musk has been staying at a cottage on the Mar-a-Lago property.
This article has been updated with new information, including the explosion left one person dead and several injured, what contents were found in the vehicle, and images.