A Tesla Cybertruck exploded on Wednesday morning outside the entrance of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, killing one and injuring several others, local officials said.
The blast is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, three senior law enforcement members briefed on the matter told Fwrd Axis News.
The driver pulled into the valet area of the hotel and the vehicle exploded, according to an official with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a top Trump adviser, said on X that the explosion had nothing to do with his car.
“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,” Musk said. “All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”
The incident came hours after a driver in a rented pickup truck plowed into New Year’s Eve party-goers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 15 and injuring more than 30 others.
Law enforcement officials say the Las Vegas cyber truck was rented on Turo — the same app sources said was used to rent the pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack.
Turo did not respond to a request for comment.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters that investigators are trying to determine whether there is a connection to the New Orleans attack.
“With an explosion here on an iconic Las Vegas boulevard, we are taking all of the precautions we need to take to keep our community safe,” Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference. “We’re looking for secondary devices. … There does not appear to be any further threat to our community now.”
The explosion outside the Trump International Hotel was reported about 8:40 a.m. local time, McMahill said.
“We were told that a 2024 Cybertruck 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,” McMahill said. “We saw smoke start showing from the vehicle, and then an explosion from the truck occurs.”
Trump International Hotel Las Vegas is owned by the Trump Organization and American businessman Phil Ruffin.
