On Monday, Lombardo said security guard Jesus Campos was
in a hallway of the Mandalay Bay hotel responding to a
report of an open door when he heard drilling from
Stephen Craig Paddock’s room.
Paddock, who had installed three cameras to monitor the
approach to his suite, opened fire through the door,
spraying 200 shots down the hall and wounding the guard,
who alerted other security officials, Lombardo said.
A few minutes later, Paddock began a 10-minute killing
spree that killed 58 people in the deadliest mass
shooting in modern U.S. history, Lombardo said.
Authorities also said Monday that Paddock targeted
aviation fuel tanks, stocked his car with explosives and
had personal protection gear as part of an escape plan.
Paddock had power tools and was attempting to drill a
hole in an adjacent wall, perhaps to mount another
camera or to point a rifle through, but he never
completed the work, Lombardo said. He also drilled holes
and bolted a metal bar to try to prevent the opening of
an emergency exit stairwell door near the door of his
room.
Lombardo again expressed frustration with the pace of
the investigation, but not with the investigators who
have yet to pinpoint the motive behind the shooter’s
decision to fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay
hotel casino on a Las Vegas Strip concert crowd of
22,000 on Oct. 1.
“It’s because this individual purposely hid his actions
leading up to this event, and it is difficult for us to
find the answers to those actions,” Lombardo said. “We
believe he decided to take the lives he did and he had a
very purposeful plan that he carried out.”
There is still no evidence Paddock was motivated by
ideology, or that there was another shooter, he said.
Investigators have found 200 incidents of Paddock moving
through the city, and at no time was he with anyone
else, Lombardo said.
Lombardo said police and FBI agents, including
behavioral profilers, still haven’t found a particular
event in Paddock’s life that might have triggered the
shooting. The sheriff added that a complete evaluation
of Paddock’s mental condition was not yet done.
Authorities didn’t find a note in his room, only a paper
with numbers, he said.
Investigators believe the numbers represented
calculations for more precise shots, according to a law
enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss
the details of the ongoing investigation publicly and
spoke on condition of anonymity.
The sheriff also confirmed investigators are talking
with Paddock’s brother Eric Paddock, who traveled to Las
Vegas, and continue to speak with the shooter’s
girlfriend, Marilou Danley, to get insight.
Lombardo declined to reveal what they’ve said, but he
stated, “Every piece of information we get is one more
piece of the puzzle.”
Eric Paddock said he came to Las Vegas to retrieve his
brother’s body in hopes of sending the cremated ashes to
their 89-year-old mother in Orlando.
Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said Monday he could
not discuss the results of an autopsy done on Stephen
Paddock, who police said shot himself dead before
officers arrived at the Las Vegas Strip hotel suite from
which he rained gunfire on a concert crowd below.
Eric Paddock told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he
plans to put his brother’s assets in a trust that would
benefit the shooting victims.
Law enforcement interviews with Paddock’s brother
Saturday and Sunday were part of an exhaustive search
through the 64-year-old’s life.
Meanwhile, friends and relatives of the victims and
other concert-goers who survived returned Monday to
reclaim baby strollers, shoes, phones, backpacks and
purses left behind in the panic as they fled.
The personal effects being recovered were strewn across
the massive grassy concert venue where 22,000 country
music fans attended the Route 91 Harvest festival have
become sentimental memories of loved ones for some and
haunting reminders of the night of terror for others.
People left behind thousands of items, Clark County
Emergency Manager John Steinbeck said.
Those who were in two areas of the concert grounds were
being allowed to retrieve their things in groups, with
authorities expanding the offer Monday to include people
who were seated west of the stage. Authorities are
powering up cellphones and asking people to text their
full names to the phones to ensure they are returned to
the correct owners.
At the assistance center set up at a convention center
in Las Vegas, a steady stream of individuals walked in
on Monday looking for purses, wallets, cellphones and
even a wedding bracelet. Volunteers filled out intake
forms with detailed descriptions of their lost items,
and later, FBI victims assistance agents asked for
additional questions.
People received their belongings in re-sealable plastic
bags and were asked to check them. After identifying
their items, some smiled and others hugged the FBI
agents or Red Cross volunteers who had helped them.
The somber mood inside the hall was occasionally
deepened by the weeping of some.
Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo in Las Vegas
and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this
report.
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