Officials investigating terrorism-related event after driver rammed car into Nevada power substation
By Alaa Elassar, Bill Kirkos, CNN
(CNN) — A driver is dead after he rammed a vehicle through the gate of a power substation in Boulder City, Nevada, on Thursday in what authorities are investigating as a terrorism-related event, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
The driver, who was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, has been identified as 23-year-old Dawson Maloney of Albany, New York, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a news conference on Friday.
McMahill said the suspect had recently been reported missing out of New York and had communicated with family members before the incident, making statements referencing self-harm and suggesting he intended to commit an act that would put him “on the news,” including a message to his mother in which he referred to himself as a “dead terrorist son” and said he felt obligated to carry out the attack.
The “critical incident” began late Thursday morning at a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power facility located near Boulder City, according to McMahill.
At approximately 10 a.m., Boulder City police dispatch received a 911 call reporting a vehicle had crashed through a secured gate at the power substation. The caller told dispatchers the driver appeared to be deceased and that gunshots had been heard after the crash, McMahill said.
When officers arrived, they observed a broken perimeter fence consistent with a vehicle being intentionally driven through it. Investigators also saw a debris field leading to a silver Nissan Sentra bearing New York license plates. The vehicle had come to rest against large industrial wire reels inside the facility.
As officers approached the car, they found a deceased male in the driver’s seat with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to McMahill.
Surveillance video shown during the news conference captured the vehicle approaching the facility before crashing through the gate and into the power infrastructure area.
There was no indication of major damage to the facility or any other critical infrastructure, and no service disruptions were reported as a result of the incident, Tim Shay, the chief of Boulder City Police Department, said during the news conference.
McMahill said evidence recovered during the investigation included multiple books related to extremist ideologies — spanning right- and left-wing extremism, environmental extremism, white supremacy and anti-government beliefs — as well as explosive materials and components.
A search of the rental vehicle also uncovered two shotguns, an AR-style pistol, numerous loaded AR magazines and shotgun shells, two devices described as flamethrowers containing thermite material, a crowbar, a hatchet and a cellphone that is currently undergoing forensic analysis, he said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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