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| Las Vegas shooting: Key bomb ingredient found in Stephen Paddock's car | Las Vegas shooting: Key bomb ingredient found in Stephen Paddock's car |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Officials have found ammonium nitrate, a high-nitrogen fertiliser often used in homemade bombs, in the car of the Las Vegas mass shooter. | Officials have found ammonium nitrate, a high-nitrogen fertiliser often used in homemade bombs, in the car of the Las Vegas mass shooter. |
| Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters the chemical compound was found in Stephen Paddock's car after he opened fire on concert-goers in Las Vegas, killing at least 59 and injuring more than 500. | |
| Officers found more than 16 guns in Paddock's hotel room, Mr Lombardo said. Authorities also found 18 guns, a stash of a commercially available explosive called tannerite, and several thousand rounds of ammunition at the gunman's home in Mesquite, Nevada. | |
| Investigators have yet to determine a motive in the shooting. | Investigators have yet to determine a motive in the shooting. |
| Ammonium nitrate is harmless on its own, and stable to store. But when combined with other chemicals, in recipes easily accessible on the internet, it can be made into a highly effective bomb. The attackers in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings that killed almost 200 people used an ammonium-nitrate-powered bomb. | Ammonium nitrate is harmless on its own, and stable to store. But when combined with other chemicals, in recipes easily accessible on the internet, it can be made into a highly effective bomb. The attackers in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings that killed almost 200 people used an ammonium-nitrate-powered bomb. |
| Tannerite is the brand name of an explosive often used as a rifle target. The substance, composed of ammonium nitrate and powdered aluminium, produces a large bang and puff of smoke when struck by a bullet. It can also produce a damaging explosion, such as that achieved in a 2016 New York City subway bombing. | |
| ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities say they have found no connections to any international terrorist organisations. Police are hoping to speak with one woman, described as a 'companion' of Mr Paddock, when she returns to the country, Mr Lombardo said. | |
| Two gun shops where Paddock purchased his weapons have said he purchased them legally, and passed all required background checks. Paddock had no prior criminal history, according to police. | Two gun shops where Paddock purchased his weapons have said he purchased them legally, and passed all required background checks. Paddock had no prior criminal history, according to police. |
| The divorced accountant checked into a large suite in the Madalay Bay Resort and Casino on 28 September. Hotel personnel entered the room several times during his stay and saw nothing suspicious, according to Mr Lombardo. | |
| Paddock resided in the room until the first of October, when he broke several windows in his hotel room and fired through them, into the crowd of some 22,000 concert-goers. The shooting has now been named the deadliest in US history. | |
| Paddock’s brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was "dumbstruck" by the news. | |
| "There's absolutely no way I can even conceive that my brother would shoot a bunch of people he didn't even know," Mr Paddock told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "There's no rationale. There's nothing anywhere that said why he did this." |