A heavily armed man from New York tried to ram his rental car into a power substation outside of Las Vegas on Thursday, crashing through a perimeter fence before killing himself, according to the authorities, who said they were treating the breach as terrorism.
Investigators said that the man, Dawson Maloney, a 23-year-old law student from Albany, had recently been reported missing and had threatened to harm himself on multiple occasions.
Around 10 a.m. on Thursday, Mr. Maloney turned up more than 2,500 miles from home, accelerating his rented silver Nissan Sentra toward a substation in Boulder City, Nev., Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said at a news conference on Friday.
Mr. Maloney did not reach the substation, plowing his car instead into large industrial wire reels, according to Sheriff McMahill, who showed security camera footage of the crash.
He said a witness heard gunshots. When officers approached the vehicle, Mr. Maloney was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Sheriff McMahill said.
“In a message to his mother, the suspect referred to himself as a dead terrorist son and stated he felt he had an obligation to carry out his act,” Sheriff McMahill said.
Officers found two shotguns, an AR-style pistol, ammunition, flame throwers and a hatchet inside Mr. Maloney’s rental car, according to Sheriff McMahill, who said that Mr. Maloney was wearing soft body armor.
Law enforcement officials said they found ingredients for making explosives and extremist materials inside a hotel room where Mr. Maloney had stayed before the attack. The materials included books promoting white supremacy, right-wing and left-wing views, environmental extremism and anti-government ideology.
There was no major damage to the substation, which officials said is part of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and transfers electricity from the Hoover Dam southeast of Las Vegas to the Los Angeles area.
It was not clear why Mr. Maloney chose that particular substation, which is in an area in the Mojave Desert known for energy production, including solar farms.
Efforts to reach Mr. Maloney’s family were not immediately successful on Friday.
Mr. Maloney was a student at Albany Law School and had been scheduled to graduate in 2027, according to the institution.
Neil Vigdor covers breaking news for The Times, with a focus on politics.
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