Advertisement

Vegas gunman set up cameras inside his room and outside

 
Investigators walk through debris on festival grounds across the street from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Investigators walk through debris on festival grounds across the street from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Published Oct. 4, 2017

LAS VEGAS

Before he mowed down concertgoers from a perch high in a hotel tower, a gunman created a ring of surveillance around him, with videocameras in his suite and in the hallway, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. But investigators were still at a loss to offer a motive for the massacre.

The cameras — apparently intended to warn of approaching threats — along with the 23 guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and other equipment found in the shooter's hotel suite, suggested a thought-out plan to have plenty of time to wreak carnage while holding police at bay.

Local and federal investigators also said they were eager to interview the gunman's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who had been in the Philippines, and a federal law enforcement official said she was expected to return to the United States. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said that at a minimum, she might shed some light on what was going through the mind of the gunman, Stephen Paddock, who killed himself as the police prepared to enter his room.

"I will assure you investigation with her is ongoing, and we anticipate some information here from her shortly," Lombardo said.

Twelve of the rifles the gunman had in his luxury suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino were outfitted with a "bump stock," a device that enables a gun to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, like a machine gun, which may explain how he was able to rain such devastation on the crowd below, law enforcement officials said. Such devices are generally legal, and the possibility that he may have used them set off a fresh round of calls by Democratic lawmakers in Washington to pass more gun regulations after the tragedy.

At 10:08 p.m. Sunday, the shooter opened fire on the thousands of people attending a country music festival a few hundred yards northeast of the hotel, firing long, rapid-fire bursts into the throng, as people screamed and ran for their lives. He killed 59 people and wounded hundreds of others. In all, more than 500 people were injured, most by gunfire, and some in the panicked rush to escape.

President Donald Trump, who is expected to visit Las Vegas today, said Tuesday that Paddock was "a sick man, a demented man," adding that "we are dealing with a very, very sick individual." He said there would be some discussion about firearms legislation, but was not specific.

"We will be talking about gun laws as time goes by," Trump said as he prepared to leave Washington for hurricane-battered Puerto Rico.

Police officials said that Paddock, 64, had set up two cameras in the hallway, including one on a service cart, and a third camera over the suite door peephole.

"I anticipate he was looking for anybody coming to take him into custody," the sheriff said.

According to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the New York Times on the condition of anonymity, investigators also were looking into whether Paddock had planned an earlier attack in Las Vegas before deciding to target the concert Sunday night.

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Paddock checked in on Thursday, and kept the "Do Not Disturb" sign on his door for the next three days, so no maids entered the rooms, according to a hotel worker, who also was not authorized to discuss the matter. Housekeepers are allowed to enter a room with such a sign only in the presence of a security guard, and it happens rarely, usually after several days, the worker said.

The hotel staff is trained to look for anything suspicious, but the gunman's behavior did not set off any alarms, the employee said. He had at least 10 suitcases in his room, the sheriff had said, which might have been used to bring the guns in without notice. But the hotel worker said it would have been easy to bring them to the room a few at a time without arousing suspicion.

Undersheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas police said that Paddock fired on the concertgoers for 9 to 11 minutes, in about a dozen bursts.

Replacing the standard rifle stock, which rests against the user's shoulder, with a bump stock like the one Paddock had, allows a semiautomatic rifle to fire much more rapidly, like an automatic, firing hundreds of rounds per minute. The devices are usually legal and inexpensive, with some versions advertised for $99.

A bump stock allows the body of the rifle to slide a short distance back and forth, harnessing the recoil energy of each shot. The weapon bounces, or "bumps," rapidly between shoulder and finger, essentially creating the action of repeated trigger pulls without the shooter having to move the trigger finger.

Paddock was an avid gambler who often bet heavily at the major casino hotels, and Danley, 62, who was out of the country at the time of the shooting, had worked for some of those hotels. They lived in Mesquite, Nev., 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, and he also owned a home in Reno.

Law enforcement officials have said they are confident that Paddock, who had no prior criminal record, was the sole shooter Sunday. Though the Islamic State group has claimed that he was one of their followers, officials say that, so far, they have found no evidence that he had ties to any extremist group.

But Lombardo stressed that investigators were still looking into what roles others might have played.

"I assure you this investigation is not ended with the demise of Mr. Paddock," he said.

Asked if Danley was considered a suspect, he said, "Currently she's a person of interest."

Paddock recently wired thousands of dollars to the Philippines, but it was not clear who the recipient was.

Paddock's and Danley's neighbors in Reno described the couple as quiet and private, and Paddock as a recluse they rarely saw. Susan Page, a retired financial analyst who lives next door, said she never saw anyone visit them.

"It wasn't that they were unfriendly, they just didn't socialize," she said. "I thought maybe he was sick or something because they were always in the house and the shades were always drawn shut."