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Las Vegas Shooting: Gunman Fired at Tanks Filled With Jet Fuel Las Vegas Shooting: Gunman’s Girlfriend Says She Knew Nothing of Plans
(about 3 hours later)
Stephen Paddock, the gunman who killed 58 people this week when he fired on a crowd at a music festival, also strafed tanks filled with aviation fuel not far from the concert venue, according to a local news report. In her first public statement since the Las Vegas massacre, the gunman’s girlfriend said on Wednesday that he had sent her on a trip to the Philippines and wired her money there, but that she did not know he had been planning to harm anyone.
It was unclear whether Mr. Paddock, a licensed pilot who had stockpiled dozens of weapons in his suite at a Las Vegas hotel, had intentionally fired at the tanks, which were on property owned by McCarran International Airport. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that one of the two windows Mr. Paddock broke in his 32nd-floor suite before opening fire had a direct view of the tanks. The statement from the woman, Marilou Danley, which was read by her lawyer, Matthew Lombard, came after Ms. Danley went to the Los Angeles offices of the F.B.I. for questioning, according to a law enforcement official. It was released as the authorities sought her insight into what prompted a man with no evident criminal history to become a mass murderer.
Inside Mr. Paddock’s home and car, the police found tannerite, a chemical that explodes when shot with high-velocity bullets. She stressed that she returned to the United States voluntarily, “because I know that the F.B.I. and the Las Vegas police department wanted to talk to me, and I wanted to talk to them.”
• Investigators on Wednesday confirmed that Mr. Paddock left a note inside his suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. “It was not a suicide note. I’m comfortable saying that,” said Sheriff Joseph Lombardo. • Investigators on Wednesday confirmed that the gunman, Stephen Paddock, had left a note inside his suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. “It was not a suicide note. I’m comfortable saying that,” said Sheriff Joseph Lombardo.
• “It never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone,” Marilou Danley, the gunman’s girlfriend, said in a statement on Wednesday, her first public comments since the shooting. • “It never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone,” Ms. Danley said in her statement on Wednesday.
• Of the 489 people injured in the shooting, 317 have been discharged from hospitals and about 50 are in critical condition. The death toll remained at 58 victims as of Wednesday night.• Of the 489 people injured in the shooting, 317 have been discharged from hospitals and about 50 are in critical condition. The death toll remained at 58 victims as of Wednesday night.
• Top congressional Republicans, who for decades have resisted any legislative limits on guns, signaled on Wednesday that they would be open to banning “bump stocks,” the firearm accessory Mr. Paddock used to transform his rifles to mimic automatic weapon fire.• Top congressional Republicans, who for decades have resisted any legislative limits on guns, signaled on Wednesday that they would be open to banning “bump stocks,” the firearm accessory Mr. Paddock used to transform his rifles to mimic automatic weapon fire.
Marilou Danley said she never believed her “kind, caring, quiet” boyfriend was capable of killing 58 people and wounding hundreds more. Ms. Danley said she never believed her “kind, caring, quiet” boyfriend was capable of killing 58 people and wounding hundreds more.
“He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of, that I understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to happen,” she said Wednesday in her first public comments since the shooting. “He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of, that I understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to happen,” she said.
The statement, which was read by her lawyer, Matthew Lombard, came on the same day that a law enforcement official said she had been questioned by F.B.I. agents trying to determine a motive for the deadly shooting. The statement came on the same day that a law enforcement official said she had been questioned by F.B.I. agents trying to determine a motive for the deadly shooting.
President Trump spent four hours in Las Vegas on Wednesday, during which he paid tribute to the professionalism of the doctors who treated the Las Vegas shooting victims. He said that meeting with the patients at one hospital made him “proud to be an American.” President Trump spent four hours in Las Vegas on Wednesday, during which he paid tribute to the professionalism of the doctors who treated the shooting victims. He said that meeting with the patients at one hospital made him “proud to be an American.”
The president said he met with some “absolutely terribly wounded” patients and hailed their bravery during the horrific attack Sunday night. He said many of those he met had been wounded as they sought to help others amid the hail of bullets.The president said he met with some “absolutely terribly wounded” patients and hailed their bravery during the horrific attack Sunday night. He said many of those he met had been wounded as they sought to help others amid the hail of bullets.
Mr. Paddock purchased 33 weapons in the past year, law enforcement officials said.Mr. Paddock purchased 33 weapons in the past year, law enforcement officials said.
Twelve of the rifles Mr. Paddock had in his luxury suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino were outfitted with bump stocks, devices that enable a rifle to be fired like a machine gun, with hundreds of rounds per minute, which may explain how he was able to rain such devastation on the crowd below, law enforcement officials said.Twelve of the rifles Mr. Paddock had in his luxury suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino were outfitted with bump stocks, devices that enable a rifle to be fired like a machine gun, with hundreds of rounds per minute, 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 massacre.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 massacre.