The gunman who killed at least 59 people at a concert on Oct. 1 might have originally targeted another Las Vegas music festival.
Stephen Paddock, who killed himself after murdering at least 59 people at a country music concert in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, reportedly rented condos overlooking the “Life Is Beautiful” festival one week earlier, a senior law enforcement source told The Daily Beast. So in other words, it seems like the 64-year-old may have initially planned to attack people at Chance The Rapper and Lorde ‘s concert.
“Paddock may have lost his nerve or simply changed his plans and checked into the Mandalay Bay Hotel on September 28,” a source suggested to The Daily Beast. As previously reported, Stephen booked a suite overlooking the Route 91 Harvest Festival and after breaking his window open, he started shooting at an estimated 20,000 concertgoers below. Law enforcement reportedly found 23 weapons inside Stephen’s suite, “including several rifles capable of automatic fire.” Stephen hid the weapons in TEN suitcases, Joseph Lombardo (the sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department) said. Furthermore, at least 19 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and an explosive were found at Stephen’s home in Mesquite, Nevada after the massacre.
As we previously told you, Stephen opened fire from the window of his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, and shot into the crowd for 10 to 15 minutes, killing at least 59. In the process, he also injured over 500 concertgoers who tried fleeing the scene as soon as everyone figured out the sounds of the gunshots were not fireworks going off in the background. “It was like a war zone,” survivor Daniel McDonald told CNN . “I don’t get how someone could do that.”
Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those affected by the Las Vegas shooting on Oct. 1.
