BOULDER CITY (KTNV) — A man who drove from Albany to Las Vegas and crashed into a Boulder City power facility on Thursday was likely planning a much larger attack, according to police evidence that included explosive materials, firearms and flamethrowers in his possession.
Dawson Maloney left a note for his mother before making the cross-country trip, saying he was "a dead terrorist's son" and felt "he had an obligation to carry out his act," police said. Maloney fatally shot himself after ramming his car through the facility's gate.
The incident bears similarities to a 2023 attack at a remote desert power facility near Apex, where another man crashed his car into a transformer and set it on fire.
Darcy Spears digs into what we know so far and how this incident is echoed by a similar case:
During Friday's press conference, Sheriff Kevin McMahill shared images of multiple books found in Maloney's hotel room that were "related to extremist ideologies, including right- and left-wing extremism, environmental extremism, white supremacy, and anti-government ideology."
Police found explosive materials and bomb components in Maloney's motel room, along with a crowbar, hatchet, cell phone and two shotguns in his car. The weapons included an AR-style pistol, numerous loaded AR magazines, ammunition and two flamethrowers containing thermite, which is used for welding steel, cutting through metal, and in specialized incendiary devices.
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"We also recognize the gravity of an armed individual intentionally breaching the power facility while in possession of incendiary components," said Boulder City Police Chief Tim Shea.
The FBI in Albany is also investigating the case. Agents recovered electronics from one Albany residence.
"Recovered from an additional residence in Albany were several gun components needed to assemble a firearm, a 3D printer as well," said Las Vegas FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Delzotto.
The 2023 incident involved Mohammed Reza Mesmarian, a 35-year-old dentist from Aurora, Colorado, who rammed his car through a fence at the MGM Resorts Mega Solar Array. He crashed into a transformer, set it on fire and sat in a chair watching the flames for about 15 minutes before walking away.
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Mesmarian told investigators he wanted to send a message supporting clean energy, thinking the solar farm was a Tesla facility and that the transformer was connected to what he called "the network." Authorities initially characterized it as a terror attack on the electric system serving several Las Vegas Strip casinos.
"Individuals will take very left-wing ideology, very right-wing ideology, combine it with occult and a number of different types of things, and then they come up with their own ideology," McMahill said. "So we really don't know what has caused this extremism."
In Maloney's case, McMahill said there are "some indications that there had been potentially some early online activity that he had alluded to, but it's too early for me to tell you with any definitive ability that these are the things that caused that."
Both incidents demonstrate ongoing vulnerabilities at power facilities. Video police shared showed it was relatively easy for Maloney to ram his car through the gate and onto the facility's grounds.
"And that's something that we're continuing to look at," McMahill said. "We know in this particular case, there are private security officers that are out there. There's video, which we had not had in the previous incidents. So there are things that they've done to target, harden that."
Mesmarian was found guilty but mentally ill in December 2023 and sentenced to two to 10 years in prison. Nevada Department of Corrections records show he was paroled last month.
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