Las Vegas attack: Troubled soldier's despair unveiled
The attack in Las Vegas using Tesla's Cybertruck highlights the personal tragedy of a U.S. Army soldier. The attacker left behind a letter shedding new light on the events in Las Vegas.
New information emerging after the Cybertruck attack near the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas suggests it was a public expression of a soldier’s private tragedy. Matthew Livelsberger, a decorated sergeant of the U.S. Army Special Forces, sent a chaotic email on New Year's Eve morning to Samuel Shoemate, a retired military intelligence officer.
I need to cleanse my mind of the brothers I've lost, and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took - CBS News quotes a fragment of Livelsberger's message.
Livelsberger's former partner, Alicia Arritt, revealed to CBS News that he suffered a brain injury while serving in the Middle East. He had told her it caused a change in his behaviour. He said he did not want to seek treatment. He felt that seeking help would ruin his career — she said, adding that all he cared about was returning to service.
Arritt said her former partner felt guilty about some of his actions taken during missions — actions that might have contributed to the death of innocent civilians.
Mental health of soldiers returning from missions
Experts suggest that Livelsberger, like many other soldiers on missions, may have experienced a mental health crisis. Data from the National Center for PTSD indicates that between 10 and up to 18 percent of veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental disorders. Depression affects up to 24 percent of those returning from military missions.
Livelsberger spent the holidays in Colorado Springs with his family. He then rented a Cybertruck and headed to Las Vegas. The Pentagon reported that there were no warning signs before his departure from Germany, where he was stationed.
A review of Livelsberger's social media posts, interviews with friends who knew him well, and especially his email to Shoemate, indicated that he might have been struggling with a serious mental crisis. As CBS News points out, in the mentioned email, he wrote about his concerns regarding civilian casualties of airstrikes in Afghanistan.
Investigators said at Friday's briefing that Livelsberger himself planned and prepared for the attack in Las Vegas. The authorities emphasize that Livelsberger's actions were in no way connected to the attack in New Orleans, although such a scenario was initially considered.
