Log In


Reset Password
  • MENU
    Nation
    Sunday, May 19, 2024

    Las Vegas gunman may have scoped out Fenway Park

    This undated photo provided by Eric Paddock shows his brother, Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock. On Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival killing dozens and wounding hundreds. (Courtesy of Eric Paddock via AP)

    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.

    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.

    Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou 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.

    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)
    This photo combination shows some of the victims of the mass shooting that occurred at a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Top row from left are: Heather Warino Alvarado, Steven Berger, Denise Burditus, Sandy Casey, Andrea Castilla, Denise Cohen, Austin Davis and Tom Day Jr. Second row from left are: Stacee Etcheber, Brian Fraser, Keri Lynn Galvan, Dana Gardner, Angie Gomez, Rocio Guillen, Charleston Hartfield and Nicol Kimura. Third row from left are: Jessica Klymchuk, Rhonda LeRocque, Kelsey Meadows, Calla Medig, Sonny Melton, Adrian Murfitt, Rachael Parker and John Phippen. Bottom row from left are: Melissa Ramirez, Jordyn Rivera, Quinton Robbins, Bailey Schweitzer, Laura Shipp and Brennan Stewart. (AP Photo)
    Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg updates the media on the status of the work his bureau is handling in the wake of a mass shooting on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/John Locher)
    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)
    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)
    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)
    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)
    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)
    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)
    Chicago Police Bureau of Organized Crime Chief Anthony Riccio speaks at a news conference accompanied by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, in Chicago. Riccio says there will be "significantly" more undercover officers working during Sunday's Chicago Marathon than in years past after a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas earlier this week. He says the department will increase the number of undercover officers working Monday night when the Bears play at Soldier Field and next week when the Cubs return to Wrigley Field for the National League playoffs. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
    The Blackstone Hotel sits on Michigan Avenue across the street from Chicago's Grant Park on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, in Chicago. Stephen Paddock, opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday, Oct. 1, killing dozens and injuring hundreds in Las Vegas. In August, Paddock, booked a room at the Blackstone Hotel that overlooks the park where the Lollapalooza music festival was held that weekend, a law enforcement official said Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
    The Blackstone Hotel, left, sits on Michigan Avenue, across the street from Chicago's Grant Park on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, in Chicago. Stephen Paddock, opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday, Oct. 1, killing dozens and injuring hundreds in Las Vegas. In August, Paddock, booked a room at the Blackstone Hotel that overlooks the park where the Lollapalooza music festival was held that weekend, a law enforcement official said Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
    Sherri Camperchioli, left, and Jordan Cassel help 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)

    Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.