Shooter’s laptop missing hard drive

UNITED STATES: A laptop found inside the Las Vegas gunman’s hotel suite after he carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history was missing a hard drive, a federal official told The Associated Press yesterday.

Investigators suspect gunman Stephen Paddock removed the hard drive from the laptop after opened fire from his highrise suite at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino into a crowd at a country music concert, killing 58 people and wounded hundreds of others, the official said.

The official wasn’t authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The hard drive hasn’t been found, according to the official, and the absence of digital clues adds yet another puzzling aspect to the investigation as authorities try to figure out what might’ve led the 64-yearold high-stakes gambler to commit the mass killing. Investigators have examined his politics, finances, any possible radicalisation and his social behaviour - typical investigative avenues that have helped uncover the motive in past shootings - and there’s still no clear motive.

Yesterday, authorities also estimated that the costs of police, fire and other emergency services related to the massacre were projected at about US$4 million and climbing.

The disclosure came amid pledges by the federal government to provide US$1 million, and from the state of Nevada to pay US$600,000 to defray costs stemming from the October 1 shooting. -AP