The shooter who killed 58 people and injured close to 500 others in Las Vegas while he rained down bullets from a sniper perch did leave a note, Las Vegas police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Wednesday. The Sheriff said it was not a suicide note, as the shooter had initially planned to escape.
Authorities did not give any details of the note, and a motive for the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history has still not been determined.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Wednesday night that the shooter had planned to escape after his massacre, where he shot multiple firearms for about 10 minutes at thousands of people at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sunday.
And, the shooter might have had help planning his attack, Lombardo said.
Las Vegas sheriff: I believe concert shooter had planned to escape hotel after massacre https://t.co/JWYcLUtmz9 https://t.co/o9valz027A
— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2017
Lombardo said the shooter – 64-year-old Stephen Paddock – had intended to escape, but then killed himself when he realized police were closing in on him. Paddock reportedly shot himself in the head when he was discovered by police, which has led some reports to say the Las Vegas shooting was responsible for 59 deaths.
“He was doing everything possible to see how he could escape at this point,” Lombardo said, CNN reported.
Paddock had set up cameras inside his hotel room, outside the room and in the hotel door peep hole. Authorities found 50 pounds of explosives and 1,600 rounds of ammo in his car that was found in the resort parking lot, Lombardo said.
There were 23 firearms in the hotel room, including a handgun, a gun similar to an AR-15 rifle and an AK-47 rifle. The shooter had rigged some of the firearms to be automatic weapons.
Paddock was a millionaire who gambled, but he did not have a criminal record. He reportedly owned 47 guns, all of which he purchased legally over the course of two decades.
Police found more guns – rifles, shotguns and handguns included – in Paddock’s houses outside Reno, Nevada, and in Mesquite, Nevada.
It has been reported that Paddock wired $100,000 to the Philippines a few weeks before the shooting, which is where his girlfriend, Marilou Danley, is from.
Police are still searching for a motive.
ISIS initially claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying the shooter had converted to Islam several months weeks ago. But the FBI said it did not believe there was a connection to international terrorism. ISIS also did not offer up any proof or evidence.
Photos were leaked Tuesday of the shooter’s alleged hotel room.
One photo shows what are allegedly the shooter’s legs on the ground, and what appears to be a note – what some say could be a suicide note – on a small table near him. Bullets and several assault rifles are seen all around the room.
Footage from a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department body cam was also released this week.
