Las Vegas gunman may have scoped out other music festivals
LAS VEGAS — Investigators are looking into whether gunman Stephen Paddock scoped out bigger music festivals in Las Vegas and Chicago — and perhaps Boston’s Fenway Park — before setting up his perch in a casino hotel and raining deadly fire on country music fans.
Paddock booked rooms overlooking the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago in August and the Life Is Beautiful show near the Vegas Strip in late September, according to authorities reconstructing his movements before he undertook the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
It was not clear if he contemplated massacres at those sites.
Investigators looking into Paddock also came across mention of Fenway Park, Boston police Lt. Detective Mike McCarthy said, though he provided no further details.
The details came to light as investigators struggled to figure out why the high-stakes gambler opened fire on a crowd of 22,000 Sunday night from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel casino in Las Vegas. He killed 58 people and injured nearly 500 before taking his own life.
A federal official said authorities are looking into the possibility Paddock planned additional attacks, including a car bombing. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Authorities previously disclosed Paddock had 1,600 rounds of ammunition in his car, along with fertilizer that can be used to make explosives and 50 pounds of Tannerite, a substance used in explosive rifle targets.
In the meantime, Las Vegas police announced Thursday that they had found a Hyundai Tucson they had been searching for as part of the probe while executing a search warrant at the home in Reno that Paddock shared with his girlfriend, Marilou Danley. It wasn’t immediately clear if the car was found on Thursday or earlier in the week when police searched the home and found several guns and ammunition.
Paddock had an arsenal of 23 weapons in his hotel room. A dozen of them included “bump stocks,” attachments that can effectively convert semi-automatic rifles into fully automated weapons.
In a rare concession on gun control, the National Rifle Association announced its support Thursday for regulating the devices.
Danley told FBI agents Wednesday she had not noticed any changes in his mental state or indications he could become violent, the federal official said.
Paddock sent Danley on a trip to her native Philippines before the attack, and she was unaware of his plans and devastated when she learned of the carnage while overseas, she said in a statement.
Investigators combing through his background for clues remain stumped as to his motive.
The profile developed so far is of a “disturbed and dangerous” man who acquired an arsenal over decades, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. But investigators have been frustrated to find that he lived a “secret life,” Lombardo said, “much of which will never be fully understood.”
A former executive casino host at the Atlantis Casino Resort and Spa in Reno said Paddock had a “god complex” and expected quick service without regard to how busy the staff was at the time.
“He liked everybody to think that he was the guy,” John Weinreich said. “He didn’t boast about anything he had or anything. It was just his demeanor. It was like, ‘I’m here. Don’t cross me. Don’t look at me too long.’ “
The weekend before the massacre, he rented a room through Airbnb at the 21-story Ogden condominiums in downtown Las Vegas and stayed there during a music festival below that included Chance the Rapper, Muse, Lorde and Blink-182.
“Reasons that ran through Paddock’s mind is unknown, but it was directly at the same time as Life Is Beautiful,” the sheriff said.
Police were reviewing video shot at the high-rise to check Paddock’s movements. His renting the condo was curious because, as a high-roller, he could have easily gotten a free room at one of the casino hotels on the Vegas Strip.
In early August, Paddock booked a room at Chicago’s 21-story Blackstone Hotel that overlooked the park where the Lollapalooza alternative music festival was being held, though there’s no evidence he actually stayed there, a law enforcement official said Thursday.
The official was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity after being briefed on the investigation.
The hotel confirmed a Stephen Paddock made a reservation but said he never checked in.
Lollapalooza draws hundreds of thousands of music fans every year to Grant Park.
Although Paddock killed himself as a SWAT team closed in, the sheriff said it appeared he had planned to survive and had an escape plan. Lombardo would not elaborate on the plan.
The coroner’s office in Las Vegas would not release details of its autopsy on Paddock. Some behavioral experts have wondered whether he suffered from some kind of brain abnormality or had a terminal illness that prompted him to lash out.
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Melley reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Don Babwin and Michael Tarm in Chicago; Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston; Jonathan J. Cooper in Reno; Ken Ritter in Las Vegas; and Sadie Gurman and Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.
People pause at a memorial for the victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Mandalay Bay resort and casino towers over the festival area.
This undated photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Marilou Danley. Danley, 62, returned to the United States from the Philippines on Tuesday night, Oct. 3, 2017, and was met at Los Angeles International Airport by FBI agents, according to a law enforcement official. Authorities are trying to determine why Stephen Paddock, Danley’s boyfriend, killed dozens of people in Las Vegas Oct. 1, in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP, File)
An investigator works in the room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino where a gunman opened fire from on a music festival Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. The gunman killed dozens and injuring hundreds at the festival. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
People pause at a memorial for the victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/John Locher)
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk with surgeon Dr. John Fildes, left, at the University Medical Center after meeting with survivors of the mass shooting Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Agents from the FBI continue to process evidence at the scene of a mass shooting on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Allison Easterbrooks pauses at a memorial for the people killed in Sunday’s mass shooting on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Part of Reno Ave. near South Las Vegas Blvd is blocked with police tape in the aftermath of a mass shooting Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, with dozens killed and hundreds injured, some by gunfire, some during the chaotic escape. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The marquee at the W Hotel shows a sign for the victims of a mass shooting on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A man pauses at a memorial for the victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Alyssia Washington, 24, of Flint, Mich., gasps aloud as she tries to hold back tears while names of identified victims from the Las Vegas mass shooting are read aloud, while standing in a circle of more than 50 University of Michigan-Flint students and faculty members during a vigil at the McKinnon Plaza on campus Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017 in downtown Flint. (Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo listens to a question during a media briefing at Metro Police headquarters in Las Vegas Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Investigators trying to figure out the Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock’s state of mind have so far been stymied by the secret life he appeared to lead before the attack on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak, left, and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo leave a media briefing at Metro Police headquarters in Las Vegas Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Investigators trying to figure out the Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock’s state of mind have so far been stymied by the secret life he appeared to lead before the attack on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Aaron Rouse, special agent in charge of the Las Vegas Division of the FBI, responds to a question during a media briefing at Metro Police headquarters in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Investigators trying to figure out the Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock’s state of mind have so far been stymied by the secret life he appeared to lead before the attack on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev, speaks during a media briefing at Metro Police headquarters in Las Vegas Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Investigators trying to figure out the Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock’s state of mind have so far been stymied by the secret life he appeared to lead before the attack on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Sherri Camperchioli helps set up some of the crosses that arrived in Las Vegas today to honor the victims of the mass shooting on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
People pause at a memorial for the victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Mandalay Bay resort and casino towers over the festival area.
This undated photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Marilou Danley. Danley, 62, returned to the United States from the Philippines on Tuesday night, Oct. 3, 2017, and was met at Los Angeles International Airport by FBI agents, according to a law enforcement official. Authorities are trying to determine why Stephen Paddock, Danley’s boyfriend, killed dozens of people in Las Vegas Oct. 1, in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP, File)
An investigator works in the room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino where a gunman opened fire from on a music festival Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. The gunman killed dozens and injuring hundreds at the festival. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
People pause at a memorial for the victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/John Locher)
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk with surgeon Dr. John Fildes, left, at the University Medical Center after meeting with survivors of the mass shooting Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Agents from the FBI continue to process evidence at the scene of a mass shooting on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Allison Easterbrooks pauses at a memorial for the people killed in Sunday’s mass shooting on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Part of Reno Ave. near South Las Vegas Blvd is blocked with police tape in the aftermath of a mass shooting Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, with dozens killed and hundreds injured, some by gunfire, some during the chaotic escape. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The marquee at the W Hotel shows a sign for the victims of a mass shooting on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A man pauses at a memorial for the victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Alyssia Washington, 24, of Flint, Mich., gasps aloud as she tries to hold back tears while names of identified victims from the Las Vegas mass shooting are read aloud, while standing in a circle of more than 50 University of Michigan-Flint students and faculty members during a vigil at the McKinnon Plaza on campus Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017 in downtown Flint. (Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo listens to a question during a media briefing at Metro Police headquarters in Las Vegas Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Investigators trying to figure out the Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock’s state of mind have so far been stymied by the secret life he appeared to lead before the attack on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak, left, and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo leave a media briefing at Metro Police headquarters in Las Vegas Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Investigators trying to figure out the Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock’s state of mind have so far been stymied by the secret life he appeared to lead before the attack on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Aaron Rouse, special agent in charge of the Las Vegas Division of the FBI, responds to a question during a media briefing at Metro Police headquarters in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Investigators trying to figure out the Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock’s state of mind have so far been stymied by the secret life he appeared to lead before the attack on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev, speaks during a media briefing at Metro Police headquarters in Las Vegas Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Investigators trying to figure out the Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock’s state of mind have so far been stymied by the secret life he appeared to lead before the attack on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Sherri Camperchioli helps set up some of the crosses that arrived in Las Vegas today to honor the victims of the mass shooting on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)