Las Vegas police said they are investigating the case of a car that rammed into a southern Nevada power substation owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as a possible “terrorism-related event.”
No threat to the public was reported, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference Friday about the unusual chain of events that unfolded Thursday morning after a report to Boulder City police of a car that crash through a substation gate. Video posted to the Las Vegas police X account showed the Nissan Sentra speeding through a fence.
The car came to a stop in a security area, police said. Photos appeared to show the car with front-end damage stopped near large spools of cable.
“LADWP is aware of an incident that occurred in Southern Nevada at an L.A. power facility,” the agency said in a statement. “There are no impacts or disruptions to our operations.”
Additional questions were referred to law enforcement.
Boulder City Police Chief Timothy Shea said there is no evidence of major damage to critical infrastructure and no service disruptions.
The 23-year-old driver of the vehicle was from Albany, New York — a man who was reported missing and is now dead, McMahill said.
“Officers discovered a deceased adult male in the driver’s seat suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” police said.
The man had communicated with family before the crash, referencing self-harm, and said he was going to commit an act that would place him on the news. He referred to himself as a terrorist in a message sent to his mother, according to police.
#BREAKING TERRORISM UPDATE – JOINT INVESTIGATION
LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill was joined this afternoon by Chief Timothy Shea of the Boulder City Police Department and Special Agent in Charge Chris Delzotto of the FBI Las Vegas Field Office to provide an update regarding a… pic.twitter.com/8cC7huYthL
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) February 20, 2026
Authorities found explosive materials and multiple books “related to extremist ideologies” in the man’s hotel room, McMahill said. The books included ones about right and left wing extremism, environmental extremism, white supremacism and anti-government ideology, he said.
The man was wearing what police described as “soft-body armor.” Two shotguns, an assault rifle-style pistol, and flame throwers were found in his rental car, McMahill said.
Authorities recovered a 3D printer and several gun components needed to assemble a firearm from an Albany residence.
Boulder City is a historic town located approximately 25 miles southeast of Las Vegas and home to the Hoover Dam, which is considered one of the country’s modern civil engineering wonders. The dam provides water to millions of people and generates an average of 4 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power each year for Nevada, Arizona and California.
A similar incident occurred in 2023 when a man rammed a car through a fence at a solar power facility in the desert northeast of Las Vegas, setting the car on fire. The solar power facility served Las Vegas Strip casinos. He was declared unfit for trial.