Inside the killer’s lair
First pictures of the hotel room from where gun maniac killed 59 in Las Vegas massacre
He had an arsenal that was fit for a commando unit in the suite HOTEL SOURCE ON THE 23-GUN CACHE FOUND
SIN City mass murderer Stephen Paddock lies dead in his hotel suite – with a cache of 23 guns and spent ammunition strewn on the carpet.
Two semi-automatic AR-15-style weapons are beside his body in Mandalay Bay hotel room 315 where he slaughtered 59 and injured 527. “It was an arsenal fit for a commando team,” said one source. Only the 64-year-old’s legs, torso and left arm are visible in the pictures showing Paddock in his assassin’s outfit, including black gloves. The grisly scene greeted the SWAT team who blew open the doors. Another picture shows one of Paddock’s guns appearing to have a “bump stock”, making it fully automatic and allowing him to fire at a rate of hundreds of rounds a minute.
He had managed to get the 23 assault rifles, a handgun, thousands of bullets, cameras, bipods and hammers to break the window up to his suite in 10 suitcases.
He simply placed a “Do Not Disturb” sign on his door before he started shooting at the crowd gathered for a music festival at just after 10pm.
It took police 72 minutes to zero in on his hotel room on the 32nd floor, across the street from the festival.
It was not until a fire alarm sounded, 20 minutes into his rampage that they pinpointed his room after initially going to the wrong floor. The alarm was set off
by smoke filling the room as Paddock fired off hundreds of bullets.
About 11.20pm, SWAT officers found Paddock dead in his luxurious room surrounded by his arsenal.
He had placed cameras in the hallway so he would know when they arrived and fired through the double door at them.
Before they could get to him he had turned one the guns on himself.
Mass murderer Paddock used oversized magazines, with up to 100 rounds. These allowed the multimillionaire shooter to fire in longer bursts before reloading, or picking up his next gun.
Supersized magazines are banned in many US states which only allow up to 15 bullets at time. At least was one unused by the time he killed himself.
Another of his weapons was made by Daniel Defense, of Savannah, Georgia, which also produces variants of the AR-15 rifle, based on the US Army M16.
As medics continue to treat the injured from Sunday night’s attack on the crowd of 22,000 at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, the FBI was trying to find how he stockpiled his weapons and work out what turned the accountant into America’s deadliest single killer.
US President Donald Trump tweeted: “He was a sick man, a demented man. Lot of problems, I guess and we’re looking into him very, very seriously, but we’re dealing with a very, very sick individual.”
Later, he told reporters: “We’ll be talking about gun laws as time goes on.”
Singer Ariana Grande called for a clampdown and called the shooting an act of “terrorism”.
She said: “My heart is breaking for Las Vegas. We need love, unity, peace, gun control.” Four months ago, 22 were killed by a suicide bomb at her Manchester gig.
Hunter Mike Cronk told how he recognised the sound of gunfire instantly. The retired teacher said he saw his best friend, 52-year-old Rob Macintosh, get hit three times.
He said: “We stayed there like for at least 10 minutes before we got him over the fence and under the stage.” Rob survived, but one of the four wounded he helped died.
One police source said: “The fear is Paddock’s attack will lead to copycats.”
Police found the explosive tannerite at Paddock’s home in Mesquite, Nevada, and ammonium nitrate, a chemical that can be used in bombmaking, in his vehicle.
The killer legally bought more than two dozen guns over several years. Guns & Guitars, a store in his hometown, said Paddock purchased some of weapons there legally and he “never gave any reason to believe he was unstable or unfit at any time.”