Las Vegas police report shows 851 people hurt in massacre

Las Vegas police took the unusual step Friday of releasing key details about the investigation into the Oct. 1 shooting that killed 58 people and wounded hundreds of others.

Police published an 81page “preliminary investigative report” detailing Stephen Paddock’s actions in the two weeks leading up to the attack as well as his extensive planning to carry it out. Federal court documents unsealed last week made it clear that Paddock meticulously planned for the worst mass shooting in modern American history. According to the report released Friday, 851 people were injured in the shooting, including 422 by gunfire.

Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, head of the Las Vegas police, said in a news conference that while he was confident that Paddock was the only gunman, there was still another person under investigation who is likely to be charged in the next two months. There will not be charges against Paddock’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, Lombardo said. He also said there was still no motive known for the attack.

Investigators have uncovered extensive details about the internet search history on Paddock’s computer, including guidance on ballistics and information about SWAT team tactics as well as child pornography. Law enforcement officials believe Paddock had recently lost a “significant amount of wealth,” and that motivated him to open fire from his hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

It was the first time Lombardo has spoken publicly about the case in more than two months. He repeatedly emphasized how unusual it was for the department to release details of an open investigation. He said investigators had reviewed more than than 2,000 leads and 21,000 hours of video.

“The release of this report is not standard practice,” he said. “I am going against normal protocols and releasing this information now.”

Lombardo said he expected to release a full report of the investigation by the end of the year and said he hoped the preliminary report “will quell the zest for information.”

“This report is not going to answer every question or even the biggest question, which is why he did what he did,” he added.

Lombardo would not elaborate on the other “person of federal interest” under investigation, but said: “There was one shooter in the 1 October massacre. There was only one person responsible and that was Stephen Paddock.”