A Tesla Cybertruck exploded and burst into flames Wednesday morning just outside the entrance of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, killing a person inside the vehicle and injuring several others standing nearby, local officials said.
The suspicious blast is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, three senior law enforcement members briefed on the matter told NBC News. A motive has yet to be established.
The blast came hours after a driver in a rented pickup truck who was flying an ISIS flag plowed into New Year's Eve revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 15 and injuring more than 30 others before he was shot dead by police.
That pickup truck and the Tesla in the Las Vegas explosion were rented from the same company, Turo, said Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill.
"I don't know," McMahill said when asked at a news conference whether the two incidents are connected. "But we are investigating whether there is any connectivity."
Turo, in a statement, said the company is actively aiding investigators.
"We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat," the company said.
McMahill said officials know the Tesla was rented in Colorado but declined to divulge the name of the person who died in the inferno.
"We do know who rented this truck," he said, adding they have found no link to ISIS or any other terrorist organization.
“We believe this is an isolated incident," added Jeremy Schwartz, the FBI’s acting special agent in charge of the investigation.
McMahill said officials were able to track the route the Tesla took to Las Vegas with the help of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who provided video of the Cybertruck at Tesla charging stations and by having the truck unlocked after it auto-locked in the explosion.
The Tesla arrived at 7:30 a.m. in Las Vegas and exploded an hour later, about 15 seconds after it got to the hotel, the sheriff said.
McMahill showed video of the explosion at an evening news conference. "So the individual who was in the truck is obviously deceased," he said.
Earlier, Musk, who is also a top Trump adviser, insisted on X that the explosion had nothing to do with the vehicle.
“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 declared. “All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”
McMahill confirmed there were gasoline cannisters and large fireworks mortars in the back of the truck.
"I don’t know how they were ignited," the sheriff said. "We haven’t been able to process the vehicle yet.”
McMahill also reiterated that "there does not appear to be any further threat to our community now."
Meanwhile, in New York City, extra police officers were assigned to Trump Tower as a precaution and the security perimeter was expanded to keep the public and traffic further away from the building, an NYPD spokesperson said.
Security at the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago has also been boosted, police there confirmed.
The explosion outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas was reported about 8:40 a.m. local time, police 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 at an earlier press conference. "We saw smoke start showing from the vehicle, and then an explosion from the truck occurs."
Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Touchstone said that as first responders began to extinguish the fire, they "realized at the same time that there were multiple persons with injuries located around the vehicle."
Of the seven people injured, Touchstone said, two were taken to University Medical Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas. But the injuries of all seven people are considered minor, he said.
In videos circulating online, sirens can be heard in the Trump International Hotel lobby as the vehicle just outside the doors is engulfed in flames. A person on social media said they were near the front door when the vehicle exploded and forced to leave their luggage by the door.
The FBI's Las Vegas office said in a statement that it “has personnel on scene to offer assistance to our local partners, who handled the initial response.”
Trump International Hotel was evacuated, and guests have been moved to Resorts World Las Vegas, officials said at the news conference.
In a statement that President-elect Donald Trump's son Eric Trump also shared on X, the Trump Organization acknowledged that “a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas.”
A porte cochère is a covered entrance large enough for vehicles to drive through.
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“The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their swift response and professionalism,” the statement read.
Trump International Hotel Las Vegas is owned by the Trump Organization and American businessman Phil Ruffin.
In videos of the lobby, loud blasts can be heard as the fire grows larger just beyond the entrance to the hotel, which is embossed with the letter "T" for Trump.
Mary Lescano Paguada, 43, who was on vacation in Las Vegas from San Antonio to celebrate the new year at the hotel, said she heard an explosion early Wedenesday.
Initially, she did not worry until she started seeing law enforcement officers responding.
Paguada said that once she and her husband reached the lobby, they heard screaming and were told by hotel staff to get out and "don't breathe the smoke. Don't stay."
She said they were not allowed to return to their rooms.
Social media posts showed smoke filling the air around the building. Other videos taken from nearby hotels show first responders appearing to race to the scene.
Trump has tapped Musk to co-lead an advisory council, the Department of Government Efficiency, during his second administration, which aims to slash federal regulations and government spending. Musk, who is the world’s richest person, contributed $277 million to back Trump’s campaign and other GOP candidates, according to campaign finance records.
