Focus still seems to be the shooter, now-deceased 64 year old Stephen Paddock.
The pictures of the hotel show TWO broken-out windows. One of them was to shoot at the concert-goers. The other one, it turns out, was broken so that Paddock could shoot at two large aviation fuel tanks. He actually did shoot at the tanks. The bullets left two holes in one of two circular white tanks. One of the bullets penetrated the tank, but did not cause a fire or explosion near the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.
More video:
Paddock played video poker, often high stakes ($100 per hand). He played several hands per hour. And he played for several hours before the shooting. According to casino workers, he tended to stare. He was quoted by someone from the casino as saying he wanted to go kill his mother for bringing him into the world.
His girlfriend returned from the Philippines — where Paddock had wired $100,000 to her — to meet with the FBI. She claimed no foreknowledge of his intentions or his motives. She thought he encouraged her to go to the Philippines (where her family was) because he intended to break up with her. Some people are not believing her, but the fact that she came back voluntarily, when she could have fought extradition for over a year, makes me think she probably know little.
There were reports last night from law enforcement that Paddock had planned to escape. In other words,it was not a mass murder-suicide. They would not comment on the reasons why they suspect this. But maybe that was why he shot at the aviation fuel tanks — as a distraction.
We are also learning that a security guard, Jeses Campos, approached the 32nd-floor suite where Paddock was shooting. Paddock, who had rigged cameras in the hallway and on the peephole of the door, saw Campos coming and fired through the door, hitting him in the leg. When Campos was hit, he radioed casino dispatch and told them his location—and Paddock’s.
We also learned that Paddock had his sights set on Lollapalooza in Chicago and even booked 2 rooms in a hotel that overlooked the massive outdoor venue on August 1-3. But he apparently never showed. In addition, Paddock allegedly rented multiple condos at The Ogden complex in downtown Las Vegas, which overlooked the location of the Life is Beautiful Festival, which ran from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24 in Las Vegas and featured artists including Chance the Rapper. LordeB, link 182, Muse and Gorillaz.
And finally, there seems to be some support among Republicans in Congress for banning “bump stocks,” which make it easier to fire semiautomatic weapons at a rate similar to that of automatic weapons. Unusual, but welcome news.