More Details Released on Las Vegas Shooting Suspect

More Details Released on Las Vegas Shooting Suspect
Stephen C. Paddock in an undated Facebook photo
Jack Phillips
10/2/2017
Updated:
10/2/2017

Las Vegas shooting suspect Stephen Paddock killed himself after killing at least 50 people and injuring 200 more, a law enforcement official stated.

“We believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry,” Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said.

Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, shot himself inside the Mandalay Bay hotel on the 32nd floor, where he’d been staying since Thursday.

When officers entered his room, he shot and killed himself, police confirmed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. (David Becker/Getty Images)
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. (David Becker/Getty Images)
People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017.(David Becker/Getty Images)
People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017.(David Becker/Getty Images)
People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

About 10 rifles were found in his room, Lombardo added. It’s unclear how he was able to keep the guns from being discovered by housekeeping staff.

“We have no idea what his belief system was,” Lombardo said of Paddock.

A senior U.S. government official told Reuters that Paddock’s name was not on the database of suspected terrorists.

Meanwhile, the woman who was sought in connection with the shooting has been cleared, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

“Marilou Danley is no longer being sought out as a person of interest,” Las Vegas police said, saying that she was living with Paddock in a Mesquite retirement community. “LVMPD detectives have made contact with her and do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip,” police said in a statement.

Video of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area.

“People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on,” said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, who had flown in for the concert. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. “Probably 100 shots at a time,” Smith said. “It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again.”

Reuters contributed to this report.
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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