More chilling details have emerged about the Las Vegas shooter and how he allegedly carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U. S. history.
Here’s the latest on the investigation into the Las Vegas shooting:
— At least 59 people, including the shooter, died after Sunday night’s mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival.
— The motive remains unknown but police say the attack was “obviously premeditated.”
— The alleged gunman, Stephen Paddock, may have planned to escape the scene.
— The note authorities found in Paddock’s hotel was not a suicide note.
— Paddock visited several music festivals in the Las Vegas area.
— Paddock booked hotel rooms in Chicago in August overlooking the Lollapalooza music festival.
— Authorities have recovered 47 firearms so far from three locations connected to Paddock.
— Paddock reportedly had been stockpiling firearms since 1982 and purchased 33 guns in the past year.
— Paddock was seen gambling for eight hours straight on the night before the shooting.
— Paddock’s girlfriend returned to the United States for questioning.
— Paddock was seen with another woman, who was not his girlfriend, in the days before the shooting.
As investigators delve deeper into how Sunday night’s massacre in Las Vegas unfolded, more chilling details have emerged about the suspected gunman and how he allegedly carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U. S. history.
Authorities said Stephen Paddock opened fire on a music festival crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and injuring 489 others, a decrease from original reports after officials double-checked numbers. More than 22,000 people were attending the final night of the Route 91 Harvest Festival when gunfire erupted.
The shooting lasted nine to 11 minutes, with the first reports of gunshots beginning Sunday at 10:05 p.m. PT and the final shots being fired at 10:15 p.m. Paddock is believed to have been solely responsible for the attack, according to police.
But Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told a news conference Wednesday night there are indications that Paddock, a 64-year-old resident of Mesquite, Nevada, had some kind of help.
Lombardo also said there is evidence that indicates he planned to escape the scene. But the sheriff did not provide any details on what the evidence was or why he believes that.
Paddock checked into the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sept. 28, bringing 10 bags and at least 23 guns, including high-power rifles. He set up surveillance cameras inside and outside his two-room suite.
There were two cameras on a room service cart in the hallway outside his suite, one on the peephole of the door to his room and a baby monitor in the living room. None of the cameras was recording, police said.
Paddock was shuttered inside his suite for three days at the giant hotel-casino, perched high above the site of the Route 91 Harvest Festival, taking place across the street. Room service was provided at some point during his stay, police said.
Investigators believe Paddock used a device similar to a hammer to smash two windows in his room before he allegedly opened fire on the music festival crowd, shortly after a rendition of “God Bless America.”
Police responded to the hotel room, where Paddock was found dead. He is believed to have killed himself before police entered.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that Paddock utilized at least one camera, though they were not recording, outside the suite possibly to monitor approaching authorities.
“I anticipate he was looking for anybody coming to take him into custody,” Sheriff Lombardo said at a news conference Tuesday.
Authorities also found a note in Paddock’s hotel room but said it was not a suicide note. The contents of the note are unknown.
While the motives behind the deadly rampage remain unclear, Lombardo said the attack was “obviously premeditated” and “meticulously planned,” and that the shooter “evaluated everything he did.” Investigators are still combing through the life of Paddock, whom Lombardo described at a news conference Wednesday night as a “disturbed and dangerous” man who had led a “secret life.”
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N. C., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told a news conference Wednesday that the shooting “doesn’t seem to have a terrorism nexus.”
ABC News has obtained images from inside Paddock’s hotel room. A body, believed to be Paddock’s, is partly visibly in one of the photos.
The images also show rifles and bullet shells scattered across the floor, with high-capacity magazines stacked like bricks in a corner.
WARNING: Images may be disturbing to some readers.
An employee at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino told ABC News she spent a total of 16 hours serving Paddock in the casino during her shifts there over the weekend. She said she watched him gamble for eight hours straight, from Saturday night to Sunday morning.
He played high-stakes video poker on machines in a separate, “exclusive” section of the casino, she said.
As soon as she saw Paddock’s picture on the news, identifying him as the suspected gunman, she said she knew it was the man who was her customer the night before the shooting.
Officials briefed on the investigation told ABC News that Paddock may have visited several music festivals in the greater Las Vegas area over the past several months. All of the venues are believed to have been within driving distance of Las Vegas.
Paddock is also believed to have made regular trips to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino starting Sept. 3 and through the rest of the month. He was known at “most of the big casinos” on the Las Vegas Strip because he was a major player who came in a lot, the officials said.
Investigators are also looking into whether Paddock tried to secure a room at the El Cortez Hotel and Casino, situated on the opposite side of the strip from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, on the weekend that the Life Is Beautiful music festival took place, between Sept. 22 and Sept. 24, the officials told ABC News.
During a news conference Wednesday night, Sheriff Lombardo confirmed that Paddock had rented a room that weekend at the Ogden hotel in downtown Las Vegas. Authorities have recovered items and surveillance video from when he stayed there, Lombardo said.
Officials briefed on the investigation also told ABC News that Paddock booked hotel rooms in Chicago in early August during Lollapalooza music festival. One of the hotels where he had reservations was the Blackstone on South Michigan Avenue across from Grant Park, where the annual event took place.
A source with the Chicago Police Department confirmed to ABC News that Paddock had reservations at the Blackstone hotel.
It’s unclear whether Paddock actually traveled to Chicago at that time.
Investigators believe Paddock may have also scouted out sites in Boston, the officials said.
Authorities have executed search warrants at three locations and for Paddock’s vehicle parked at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
In addition to the 23 guns recovered from Paddock’s hotel room — which police said were purchased in Nevada, California, Utah and Texas — authorities found a computer and several pieces of media there. Law enforcement sources said multiple loaded high-capacity magazines and a modified bump stock rifle, which allows a gun to stimulate rapid automatic gunfire, were discovered in the room as well.
Investigators are still in the process of examining the firearms to determine whether they were capable of firing automatically.
