"Feel Like Batman": US Armyman To Ex On Renting Tesla Cybertruck He Blew Up

Days before blowing up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, 37-year-old Army Ranger Matthew Livelsberger boasted to his ex-girlfriend about renting the vehicle, saying it made him "feel like Batman".

Livelsberger, who was married and had a child, had not spoken to his ex-girlfriend Alicia Arritt since their breakup in 2021, the Denver Gazette reported.

At 9 am on December 29, three days before the explosion, he wrote to Arritt: "I rented a Tesla Cybertruck. It's the s***."

Seven minutes later, he texted her again: "I feel like Batman or halo."

Batman, the iconic fictional superhero created by DC Comics, is known for his high-tech gadgets and his sleek Batmobile - a vehicle that symbolises power, innovation, and mystery.

Livelsberger - who was identified using his military ID - had allegedly shot himself in the mouth in the Cybertruck before the vehicle exploded, injuring seven people.

Image of Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel, Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Tesla founder Elon Musk claimed that the explosion was an act of terrorism.

"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 wrote in a post on X.

A monitor displays an image of a burned semiautomatic firearm recovered from the Tesla Cybertruck.

CCTV footage showed the vehicle being driven up and down Las Vegas Boulevard before being parked in front of the hotel. It detonated moments later.

Here's footage of the Tesla Cybertruck exploding in front of Trump's hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada today. Hope everyone is safe! pic.twitter.com/kdO8N4XTLl

"The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken," Musk wrote.