Decorated Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Matthew Leavelsbarger had an 8-month-old daughter at home and, according to friends, a new drone-related job excited him. He wrote glowing Yelp reviews praising the tattoo parlor in his Colorado Springs hometown and touting the benefits of the float spa. And when his father last spoke to him on Christmas Day, he told CBS News, everything seemed normal.
“He loved the military and loved America,” said Roger Leavelsberger.
Matthew Leavelsberger, 37, was on leave from his station in Germany and his father thought he would return to Germany. He said that nothing seems wrong with his son.
However, a few days later, Matthew Leavelsbarger would Rent Buy a Tesla Cybertruck, two firearms, take a winding 1,000-mile drive from Denver to Las Vegas, and put yourself in the center of one of them Two Arbitrary attacks on New Year's Day. What led him there, at least for now, remains a frustrating mystery to those who knew him and those investigating the attack.
“Obviously, we're always concerned about incidents like this as to what the motive is,” said Spencer Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI's Las Vegas division. “We understand this is at the forefront of everyone's thoughts, and so looking at what's really driving the motivation remains our number one priority.”
Finding out what inspired Leavelsberger explode a bunch of fireworks And the fuel tank in front of the Trump Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip is not only a priority for law enforcement. It's also a question that has left his family and friends with heavy hearts and a longing for answers.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
The history of Livelsberger provides some immediate clues.
A football star in high school in Bucyrus, Ohio, he enlisted in the Army after high school through a program called 18xray, which allows applicants to be trained in special forces without prior military experience.
He made several visits to Afghanistan and also started a charitable campaign to bring toys to children there.
In 2007, he helped resettle a former Afghan interpreter with whom he had worked in Afghanistan. CBS News spoke to an interpreter, who said that Livelsberger was very kind to him and his family, and often came to his home for meals, although not for many years.
Leavelsberger divorced his first wife, remarried, and had an 8-month-old child with his second wife. She continued to live in Colorado Springs and he continued to commute to and from Germany.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
People who worked with Leavelsberger described him as a kind man who went above and beyond. One described him as an “idealist” and a real hero in his continued service to the country, which included 5 tours in Afghanistan; Leavelsberger's military career was “remarkable”, he said.
“The American people still don't understand the quality of that service to be quantified – one can say they went to Afghanistan, but what did they actually do?” This service member said. In the case of Leavelsberger, he said, “a Special Forces team was at the far end of American support, operating with too much trust, too little direction, and doing it consistently.”
The U.S. Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets, are a small but elite special operations force within the U.S. military portfolio, with roots dating back to the Cold War. Small teams of Green Berets, known as Operational Detachment Alphas, are trained to conduct special operations ranging from counter-terrorism and unconventional warfare to combat raids and special reconnaissance missions. “De oppresso liber,” their Latin motto: “to liberate the oppressed.”
The close-knit Green Beret community has been left in shock after the Cybertruck explosion. Several former Green Berets spoke to CBS News to express dismay at Livesburger's actions.
Many spoke of their admiration for him as a soldier and how he was a “stand-up guy”. Others, shocked by the news, did not believe he was involved – they speculated that perhaps someone had stolen Livelsberger's identity. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed on Thursday Leavelsberger was definitely identified as the driver. Of Tesla Cybertruck. His death was ruled a suicide by the Clark County Office of the Coroner. Authorities said he shot himself in the head before detonating the vehicle at the Trump International Hotel, and they recovered a handgun near his feet.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Leavelsbarger previously served in Tajikistan and received a Department of State Meritorious Honor Award there for services at the embassy. Now, it appears there are only questions left on Sterling's resume.
Those answers may still be coming, law enforcement officials said Thursday, with the help of those who knew Leavelsberger best.
“We have to focus on what we know and what we don't know,” the FBI's Evans said at a news conference Thursday. “We know we've had bombings and that bombings are certainly factors that raise concerns. It's no secret to us that it's in front of the Trump building, that it's a Tesla vehicle, but at this point in our does not have information that definitively tells us or suggests that it was because of this particular ideology or any logic behind it, the purpose of what we are investigating is to get to the bottom of what actually happened, why and how it happened. Have to go.”
