Federal and local authorities are investigating a suspected terror attempt after a vehicle crashed through a security gate at a power substation in Nevada.
Officers-in-charge found the driver dead at the scene. They also identified the suspect as a 23-year-old man who had travelled from New York to the city near Las Vegas.
Suspected Terror Attempt on Nevada Substation
The incident occurred on Thursday morning at a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power facility near Hoover Dam. According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, dispatchers received a 911 call around 10 a.m. reporting a vehicle had crashed through a secured gate at the site.
Responding officers found a damaged perimeter fence and a sedan that had come to rest inside the facility against large industrial equipment. The LVMPD arrived around 1 p.m. with the counterterrorism section responding at the scene. Authorities discovered a deceased driver in the vehicle with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Investigators believed he shot himself after crashing into the gate. They identified the driver as Dawson Noah Maloney, who had been reported missing in New York before travelling cross-country in a rental car to Nevada. Investigators say there is no ongoing threat to the public. However, officials described the case as a “terrorism-related event,” prompting involvement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Weapons, Materials Found in Vehicle
During a Friday news conference, LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill revealed details of items found in the attacker’s car. He said the vehicle contained multiple weapons and hazardous items, including two shotguns, an AR-style pistol, and loaded magazines. Investigators also found devices described as flamethrowers containing thermite material.
Maloney was also wearing what the police described as soft body armor at the time of the crash. Additional tools, including a crowbar and hatchet, were found inside the vehicle. The items discovered led the police to further findings of where the New York resident stayed while in Nevada. searched a hotel room connected to the suspect and reportedly found explosive materials and books related to extremist ideologies spanning various political viewpoints.
McMahill shared that Maloney’s room included anti-government right-wing and left-wing extremist material, environmental extremism, white supremacy and anti-government ideology. “These findings significantly elevate the seriousness of this incident,” he stated. He further described the literary items found as a “smorgasbord of radical literature.”
The police deputy noted that the incident with Maloney is similar to what authorities have seen in recent years where individuals adopt extreme ideologies and then come up with their own. Investigators also executed search warrants at residences in New York linked to Maloney. Those searches yielded electronic devices, firearm components, and a 3D printer.
Further Findings in the Ongoing Investigation
Police said Maloney had communicated with family members before the crash and referenced plans to commit an act that would place him “on the news.” The young adult was said to have referred to himself as a terrorist in a message he sent to his mother.
Before the terror-related crash, Maloney was studying at Albany Law School in the class of 2027. He previously studied at Siena University in New York as an honors student.
Despite the dramatic nature of the crash, officials reported no major damage to the substation and no disruption to electrical service. McMahill revealed that large industrial wire reels stopped the car just in time before it could crash into the facility. The facility helps transfer power generated by the Hoover Dam to the Los Angeles region.
