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Las Vegas Shooting: Gunman’s Girlfriend Says She Knew Nothing of Plans Las Vegas Shooting: Investigators Grapple With Gunman’s ‘Secret Life’
(about 1 hour later)
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. LAS VEGAS — Investigators on Thursday were still piecing together the life of the gunman who killed 58 concertgoers in Las Vegas, and remained at a loss to explain what drove him to commit the massacre.
Sheriff Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday referred to the gunman, Stephen Paddock, as “disturbed,” but said that much of the past 10 years of his life was a mystery. “What we know is Stephen Paddock is a man who spent decades acquiring weapons and ammo and living a secret life, much of which will never be fully understood,” he said.
“Don’t you think the concealment of his history, of his life, was well-thought-out?” the sheriff asked. “It’s incumbent upon us as professionals to dig that up.”
• Investigators on Wednesday confirmed that the gunman, 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,” Sheriff Lombardo said.
• “It never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone,” Marilou Danley, the gunman’s girlfriend, said in her first public on Wednesday.
• Of the 489 people injured in the shooting, 317 have been discharged from hospitals and about 50 are in critical condition.
• 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.
In her first public statement since the shooting, 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.
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.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.
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.”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 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,” 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.
• 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.
Ms. 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.“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 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 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. The gunman’s motive remains unknown, Sheriff Lombardo said. Despite the meticulous planning that went into the attack, the gunman left behind few obvious traces, with no social media footprint to examine or manifesto to be pored over, he said.
The sheriff indicated that Mr. Paddock may have blended in intentionally, hiding the urge to violence that drove him to one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern United States history.
“Anything that would indicate this individual’s trigger point, that would cause him to do such harm, we haven’t understood it yet,” the sheriff 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.