Teslas set on fire with Molotov cocktails and shot with gun in Las Vegas attack
“This was a targeted attack against a Tesla facility," an assistant sheriff said. “We do believe that it is isolated at this time."
by David K. Li and Meriam Bouarrouj | NBC News · 5 NBCDFWA person armed with a gun and Molotov cocktails launched a "targeted attack" against a Tesla location in Las Vegas early Tuesday, spray-painting "resist," firing several shots and torching multiple cars, authorities said.
Gunshots and flames erupted at the Tesla Collision Center, at 6260 Badura Ave., at 2:45 a.m. in the latest violent incident involving property associated with Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO and adviser to President Donald Trump.
"This was a targeted attack against a Tesla facility, " Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told reporters. "We do believe that it is isolated at this time. We do not believe there is further threat to the general public."
The person wore all black and "used what appeared to be a Molotov cocktails and a firearm to conduct his attack," Koren said.
"At least five Tesla vehicles were damaged, to include two of which were engulfed in flames," Koren continued.
The attacker "fired three rounds into different Tesla vehicles," and at least one un-ignited Molotov cocktail was recovered from the scene, he said.
The word "RESIST" in all-capital letters was stray-pained in red on the center's doors.
Musk has been the point man for the Trump administration's attempts to drastically reduce federal programs with his Department of Government Efficiency.
Those efforts have coincided with a wave of vandalism nationally that appear to be targeting Tesla vehicles and facilities.
"This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong," Musk said in a statement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, which he bought in 2022. "Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks."
In a statement Tuesday night, Attorney General Pam Bondi called attacks on Tesla property “nothing short of domestic terrorism,” saying the Justice Department has charged several people “with that in mind,” including in cases that carry five-year minimum sentences.
“We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes,” she said.
More police will be assigned to Tesla locations around Las Vegas, Koren said.
Special Agent Spencer Evans, chief of the FBI’s Las Vegas office, said, “Violent acts like this are unacceptable.”
“To those who might think that something like this is justifiable or potentially even admirable, we want to let you know it’s a federal crime. We will come after you. We will find you,” Evans said.
About 22 hours before the Las Vegas incident and 300 miles away near San Diego, sheriff's deputies drove by a Tesla dealership when "multiple cars were found with swastikas spray-painted on them," officials said.
"In addition, several windows of the dealership building had also been spray-painted with swastikas and profanity," the San Diego County Sheriff's Office said.
And in another overnight incident of suspected arson, police say, two Cybertrucks were damaged by fire at a Tesla dealership in Kansas City, Missouri.
The FBI said it’s working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Kansas City police to investigate the incident.
“Similar incidents have occurred in several states and the FBI and ATF are coordinating with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to gather information,” the FBI’s Kansas City office said in a statement Tuesday.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News: