The ex-girlfriend of Cybertruck bomber Matthew Livelsberger sobbed as she described watching his final moments before his death outside Trump International Hotel in Vegas.
Alicia Arritt, who dated the Livelsberger for three years, said the special forces soldier was displaying signs of PTSD from as early as 2018, when they started dating.
Speaking to ABC News, Arritt shared that the FBI contacted her after Livelsberger’s apparent suicide and showed her footage of his final moments.
‘My whole heart broke for him that he was so broken that he got to that place,’ Arritt said.
Arritt told added that Livelsberger was open ‘really about the trauma he faced and the teammates he lost [in the military].’
In a text from 2018, Livelsberger, 37 wrote: ‘I have been spiraling down the last week or so.’
In another message from the same year, the Green Beret wrote: ‘Sometimes I get hopeless and depressed… By far the worst of my life.’
The pair met on a dating app after Livelsberger separated from his first wife, and dated for three years before he remarried.
The ex-girlfriend of Cybertruck bomber Matthew Livelsberger, Alicia Arritt, sobbed as she described watching his final moments before his death
His ex-girlfriend has shared screenshots of their conversation in the days before he died, revealing he was ‘like a kid with a new toy’ after picking up the Cybertruck used in the explosion
They lost contact after their separation. But in perhaps a telling sign, Livelsberger reached out to Arritt in the days before his death to show off the rented Cybertruck.
On December 29, he texted Arritt showing off the Tesla he had rented, and saying it ‘made him feel like Batman.’
Livelsberger also bragged the his ex about ‘building drones’ in his new role. ‘You would love it,’ he added.
Arritt has spoken out about Livelsberger’s mental health concerns in an effort to shed light on his state of mind.
‘He described all the same symptoms as a textbook,’ she told 11 News, revealing she’d seen PTSD in veterans in her role as an Army nurse.
‘In 2020, he was having paranoia and nightmares. He was exhausted and depressed. He was gaining weight and he couldn’t think.’
There are avenues to get help within the military, but Arritt said there is still a lot of stigma attached with mental health conditions, particularly in the high-level unit Livelsberger was a part of.
Arritt shared that the FBI contacted her after Livelsberger’s apparent suicide and showed her footage of his final moments
Livelsberger, a former Green Beret and active US Army Ranger, shot himself in the head seconds before an improvised explosive detonated in the back of his rented truck
In a 2018 exchange, Livelsberger said he had been spiraling
‘If he got flagged for having depression or having a TBI, he would’ve been made non-deployable and he absolutely did not want that. He wanted to be there for his guys,’ Arritt said.
‘The VA has gotten so much better about caring for these veterans, but active duty, they don’t treat them. They just keep them in the war until they’re used up and then the VA takes care of them after they’re out.’
Police allege Livelsberger, who was on an approved break from the military, hired the truck in Colorado and drove it across the border to Nevada on New Years Day.
Within an hour of arriving in Las Vegas, he had detonated the truck full of makeshift explosives he had in the bed.
Livelsberger was the only casualty of the incident, and police largely credit the hulking stainless steel Tesla truck for saving lives by containing the explosion.
An Army spokesperson said soldiers have resources at their disposal to seek help.
‘The U.S. Special Operations Command established the Preservation of the Force and Family (POTFF) program which provides holistic care in physical, cognitive, medical, and support resources as appropriate to each individual,’ the spokesperson said.
‘We encourage our Soldiers, if they need help, mental health treatment or need to speak with someone, to seek proactive behavioral health treatment either on base or online.
The contents of the Cybertruck’s tray, where the bomb was stored and detonated
Cybertruck bomber Matthew Livelsberger claims China is stalking the US with advanced drones in an unhinged suicide note
‘Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger had access to and used the POTFF program; he did not display any concerning behaviors at the time, and was granted personal leave. All relevant records were provided to the FBI as the lead investigative agency.’
His death was initially being treated as a suspected terror attack, occurring hours after Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, drove an electric vehicle into crowds in New Orleans.
The Texan-born terrorist had an ISIS flag draped on the back of the vehicle when he drove into the crowds, and was also former military.
But police have since unearthed apparent suicide notes from Livelsberger which rule out terror as his motive.
Livelsberger sent the suicide email or ‘manifesto’ to retired US Army intelligence officer Sam Shoemate shortly before the bombing.
The email claimed the mysterious drones seen flying over New Jersey and sometimes other parts of the east coast were Chinese weapons.
Livelsberger warned they could be well armed, attack anywhere, and were ‘most dangerous threat to national security that has ever existed’.
Las Vegas police also shared excerpts from two other writings, recorded in the notes app on his phone, that indicated the bombing was to get attention for his concerns.
Photos shared of Livelsberger from his days in the military
Explosive blast killed one person and injured half a dozen more when it went off outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday
‘I rented a Tesla Cybertruck. It’s the s**t,’ he text Alicia Arritt at 9am on Sunday. ‘I feel like Batman or halo’
‘We (the US) are terminally ill and headed towards collapse. This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wakeup call,’ the letter read.
‘Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence – what better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives.
‘Why did I personally do it now? I need to cleanse my mind, the brothers I’ve lost, and relieve myself of the burden of the lives that I took.’
