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Las Vegas Shooting: Coroner Identifies Gunman’s Victims Las Vegas Shooting: An Officer Is Mourned as All Victims Are Identified
(about 1 hour later)
LAS VEGAS — LAS VEGAS — Hundreds of people took part in a candlelight memorial on Thursday night for Charleston Hartfield, the Las Vegas police officer who was one of the 58 people killed in the massacre on Sunday, remembering him as a big-hearted colleague, husband and father, always quick with a joke.
The coroner’s office in Las Vegas completed the grim task of identifying all 58 people killed by a gunman at a country music festival and made their names public on Thursday night, four days after the shooting. An Army veteran who spent 11 years on the police force, Officer Hartfield, 34, also worked as a youth counselor and football coach. In speeches at Police Memorial park in northwest Las Vegas, friends and fellow officers recalled calling him Charlie, Coach Chucky or even, occasionally, “Captain America.”
The victims include 36 women and 22 men. The oldest was 67, the youngest 20. “I know that none of us here really planned on saying goodbye to Charlie so soon, but I’m glad we get to send him off in our way, not somebody else’s way,” said Steve Grammas, the president of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association.
They traveled to Las Vegas from across the United States. They were teachers, police officers, secretaries, retirees. These are their stories. • The F.B.I. is trying to determine a motive, searching the electronic devices and financial statements that belonged to Stephen Paddock, the gunman. Investigators have not found a manifesto or signs that he held extremist views.
• The F.B.I. is still trying to determine a motive, searching the electronic devices and financial statements that belonged to Stephen Paddock, the gunman. Investigators have not found a manifesto or signs that he held extremist views. • The coroner’s office in Las Vegas completed the task of identifying the 36 women and 22 men, ranging in age from 20 to 67, who were fatally shot at a country music festival, and made their names public on Thursday night. They were teachers, police officers, secretaries, retirees, from across the United States; these are their stories.
• A note the gunman left on a table inside his suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino had numbers written on it, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Thursday in an interview. He said the authorities were trying to determine what the numbers meant, but the sheriff said the document was not a suicide note. • A note the gunman left on a table inside his suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino had numbers written on it, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in an interview. He said the authorities were trying to determine what the numbers meant, but the sheriff said the document was not a suicide note.
• Mr. Paddock may have scouted other locations before targeting Las Vegas, including Fenway Park in Boston, the Lollapalooza show in Chicago and the Life Is Beautiful music festival in Las Vegas.• Mr. Paddock may have scouted other locations before targeting Las Vegas, including Fenway Park in Boston, the Lollapalooza show in Chicago and the Life Is Beautiful music festival in Las Vegas.
“In the spirit of the safety of this community or anywhere else in the United States I think it’s important to provide that information, but I don’t have it,” Sheriff Lombardo said on Thursday of the hunt for a motive. “We don’t know it yet.” “In the spirit of the safety of this community or anywhere else in the United States I think it’s important to provide that information, but I don’t have it,” Sheriff Lombardo said on Thursday of the search for a motive. “We don’t know it yet.”
The F.B.I. took Mr. Paddock’s computers and cellphones to its laboratory in Quantico, Va., for review, law enforcement officials said. Agents interviewed his girlfriend, Marilou Danley, in an attempt to determine his mental state at the time of the shooting, but Sheriff Lombardo said he was “not at liberty to say” what information had been learned.The F.B.I. took Mr. Paddock’s computers and cellphones to its laboratory in Quantico, Va., for review, law enforcement officials said. Agents interviewed his girlfriend, Marilou Danley, in an attempt to determine his mental state at the time of the shooting, but Sheriff Lombardo said he was “not at liberty to say” what information had been learned.
Of course, investigators could at any time come across evidence that reveals Mr. Paddock’s thinking. “I’m pretty confident we’ll get there,” Sheriff Lombardo said.Of course, investigators could at any time come across evidence that reveals Mr. Paddock’s thinking. “I’m pretty confident we’ll get there,” Sheriff Lombardo said.
The National Rifle Association on Thursday endorsed tighter restrictions on bump stocks, devices that can turn a gun into a rapid-fire weapon, but did not say they should be outlawed.The National Rifle Association on Thursday endorsed tighter restrictions on bump stocks, devices that can turn a gun into a rapid-fire weapon, but did not say they should be outlawed.
In a statement on Thursday, the N.R.A. said the federal authorities should “immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law.”In a statement on Thursday, the N.R.A. said the federal authorities should “immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law.”
“The N.R.A. believes that devices designed to allow semiautomatic rifles to function like fully automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations,” the group said.“The N.R.A. believes that devices designed to allow semiautomatic rifles to function like fully automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations,” the group said.
Last year, the N.R.A.’s online magazine, America’s First Freedom, called one of the rapid-fire devices “sublime,” and it advised users to keep copies of the firearms bureau’s ruling that such items are legal.Last year, the N.R.A.’s online magazine, America’s First Freedom, called one of the rapid-fire devices “sublime,” and it advised users to keep copies of the firearms bureau’s ruling that such items are legal.
On Capitol Hill, support appeared to grow for a ban on the bump stock devices, either through regulation or legislation, as Republicans — who for decades have rejected any form of gun restrictions — began increasingly to speak out. Several leading Republicans, including Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, have raised serious questions about the devices. On Capitol Hill, support appeared to grow for a ban on the bump-stock devices, either through regulation or legislation, as Republicans — who for decades have rejected any form of gun restrictions — began increasingly to speak out. Several leading Republicans, including Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, have raised questions about the devices.
And in Las Vegas, a gun show scheduled for this weekend at the Eastside Cannery Casino Hotel has been canceled.And in Las Vegas, a gun show scheduled for this weekend at the Eastside Cannery Casino Hotel has been canceled.
“This was a mutual decision with the show’s organizers,” said David Strow, a spokesman for the Boyd Gaming Corporation, which owns the casino. “Given recent events, this seemed the prudent thing to do.”“This was a mutual decision with the show’s organizers,” said David Strow, a spokesman for the Boyd Gaming Corporation, which owns the casino. “Given recent events, this seemed the prudent thing to do.”
Many of the people who paid tribute to Officer Hartfield recalled his sharp sense of humor, how he was always ready with a comeback. One officer recalled wearing a kilt to a recent game of Risk, the world-domination board game.
“Charlie looked at me and he says, ‘No way I’m going to let a ginger wearing a skirt take over the world,’” the officer said.
A formal procession took Mr. Hartfield’s coffin, draped in an American flag, to the Palm Downtown Mortuary and Cemetery, followed by the candlelight vigil, accompanied by bagpipers. His wife, Veronica; their daughter, Savannah; and their son, Ayzayah, wearing a black T-shirt printed with the words “Family first,” joined by officers and friends.
Investigators are looking into a large sum of money Mr. Paddock transferred to Ms. Danley in the Philippines shortly before the attack.
Ms. Danley, who was born in the Philippines, said in a statement Wednesday that Mr. Paddock wired her the money so that she could buy a house for herself and her family. She said she feared it meant he was breaking up with her. Some media reports have put the amount of the transfer at $100,000.
Officials at the Philippines Anti-Money Laundering Council and the National Bureau of Investigation declined to comment on whether they were looking into the transaction.
Other Philippine officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the subject, said that any overseas transfer of more than $10,000 was supposed to be flagged for review but that few were actually examined.
The volume of money transfers is so great, they said, that only questionable transactions or those involved in a crime are investigated. Even a transfer of $100,000 would not raise have raised any eyebrows, said a former United States law enforcement official who has worked in the Philippines. About 10 million Philippines citizens live overseas and send home more than $2 billion a month, according to government figures.
Mr. Paddock, took two trips to Manila in April of 2013 and 2014, said Antonette Mangrobang, a spokeswoman for the Philippine Bureau of Immigration. Both trips coincided with his birthday on April 9 and each lasted less than a week.