Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a Green Beret in the active-duty US Army, has been in the news this week for a tragic incident involving a Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
An ex-girlfriend of his, Alicia Arritt, shared that he had been dealing with injuries from his military service and had expressed feelings of depression during their time together a few years back.
They dated on and off between 2018 and 2022 after meeting through a dating app while living in Colorado. Alicia, who used to be an Army nurse, mentioned that Livelsberger reached out to her via text last December after two years without contact. However, she didn’t get the sense that he was planning anything like what happened on Wednesday.
He had suffered multiple concussions—though it’s unclear how many—and underwent back surgeries related to his military injuries in 2018 and 2019.
According to her, he often said things like he just landed bad during parachute jumps too many times. While they were together, he would sometimes tell her about feeling depressed and would cancel plans because of it. “He’d say things like ‘I’m too depressed today,’” she recalled.
Despite these struggles, Alicia noted that Livelsberger showed remarkable inner strength and tried to push through his challenges. Officials familiar with his military records indicated that he was diagnosed with depression last year but hadn’t been deemed a risk for violence or suicide.
During their relationship, Livelsberger often communicated about his physical pain and exhaustion through texts—at one point mentioning just “some concussions” from his deployment in Afghanistan.
Honestly, the past year has felt like a nightmare for me, he texted her shortly after they began seeing each other, according to the AP, which cited messages she shared with them.
It’s such a breath of fresh air to meet someone so kind. She hadn’t heard from him since July 2022, but out of the blue, he reached out again on December 28, and they started chatting until December 31. He mentioned the Cybertruck that authorities say he had rented.
Arritt recalled, We had worked on my Tesla together back in 2019, so I think he thought I’d be thrilled about it. She added, I honestly had no clue he was up to anything like that.
I feel really guilty because I think I could have intervened somehow. Speaking about his time in the military, she said that all he ever wanted was to support his fellow soldiers. He was always ready to jump into action for them and protect his teammates.
So, here’s the story: Livelsberger, a 37-year-old from Colorado, was on leave from his military base in Germany when that explosion happened on Wednesday.
According to sources, the blast resulted from a mix of fireworks, gas tanks, and camping fuel all packed into the back of his vehicle. It was set off by a device he controlled himself. Unfortunately, seven other people got hurt in the explosion.
Spencer Evans, who leads the FBI’s Las Vegas Division, mentioned on Friday that it seems like this was a heartbreaking case of suicide involving Livelsberger—a highly decorated combat veteran dealing with PTSD and other personal struggles.
Evans noted that there might have been family issues or personal grievances influencing his actions in Las Vegas.
In the days leading up to this tragic event, Livelsberger had written about political frustrations and conflicts both abroad and at home. Officials found two letters on his cell phone in the truck that shed some light on his mindset.
In one of those letters, he clarified that he didn’t intend for this to be a terrorist attack; instead, he saw it as a wake-up call.
He expressed frustration that Americans seem to only pay attention to dramatic events and believed using fireworks and explosives was the best way to get his message across.