‘Vegas shooter put cams to detect police’

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Before he mowed down concertgoers from a perch high in a hotel tower, Stephen Paddock created a ring of surveillance around him, with video cameras in his suite and in the hallway, law enforcement officials said on Tuesday. But investigators were still at a loss to offer a motive for the massacre.

The cameras — apparently intended to warn of approaching threats — along with the 23 guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and other equipment found in the shooter’s hotel suite, suggested a thought-out plan to have plenty of time to wreak carnage while holding police at bay.

Twelve of the rifles Paddock had in his luxury suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino were outfitted with a “bump stock,” a device that enables a gun to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, like a machine gun, which may explain how he was able to rain such devastation on the crowd below, law enforcement officials said. Such devices are generally legal, and the possibility that he may have used them set off a fresh round of calls by Democratic lawmakers in Washington to pass more gun regulations after the tragedy.

At 10:07 p.m. Sunday, the gunman opened fire on the thousands of people attending a country music festival a few hundred yards northeast of the hotel, firing long, rapid-fire bursts as people screamed and ran for their lives. He killed 59 people — the coroner clarified Tuesday that the number included Paddock, along with his 58 victims — and wounded hundreds of others. In all, more than 500 people were injured.

US President Donald Trump, who is expected to visit Las Vegas this week, said Tuesday that Paddock was “a sick man, a demented man,” adding that “we are dealing with a very, very sick individual.” Trump said there would be some discussion about firearms legislation but was not specific.

The retired accountant, a multimillionaire, hauled more than 10 suitcases packed with up to 23 weapons, accessories and thousands of rounds of ammunition to the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino to carry out the massacre.

He was found dead in his room, having apparently killed himself, when policemen stormed in.

Photo courtesy of Twitter shows the lifeless body of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock inside his Mandalay hotel room. Left photo shows Paddock’s room from the hotel hall. The photos were widely circulated on social media.

AP People pay their respects to the victims of the Las Vegas massacre during a vigil near Mandalay hotel yesterday.