Shooter booked hotel rooms for Chicago festival
Police unsure whether Las Vegas gunman attended Lollapalooza
Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock booked rooms in a Chicago hotel facing the Lollapalooza music festival in August, a law enforcement official told USA TODAY on Thursday.
Paddock, 64, booked one room at the Blackstone Hotel starting Aug. 1, two days before the festival opened. He booked a second room Aug. 3. The Blackstone confirmed in a statement that rooms were booked in Paddock’s name during Lollapalooza but that he did not stay there on those dates.
Both rooms had a checkout date of Aug. 6, corresponding with the final day of the music festival that drew tens of thousands of concertgoers to Grant Park alongside Lake Michigan. It was unclear if Paddock was in Chicago during the festival, according to the law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
The lineup for the festival included artists Lorde, Chance the Rapper and Arcade Fire. Among the attendees at the festival was former President Obama’s daughter, Malia. About 100,000 people turned out each day for the event, according to local media.
“We are aware of the media reports and have been in communication with our federal partners,” the Chicago Police Department said in a statement. “As you saw earlier this week the city conducts extensive public safety planning and training around major events, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, to ensure public safety.”
In addition to Paddock’s bookings in Chicago, a federal law enforcement official says the gunman also expressed interest in Boston in the past several months, prompting authorities to notify local authorities there. Paddock appeared to be interested in hotels in the vicinity of Boston’s Fenway Park, but whether the interest corresponded with events at the iconic ballpark was
Investigators say the Las Vegas shooter must have had some help along the way, but they have no idea who that might be.
not immediately clear.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said Thursday that information referencing other locations is being drawn from investigators’ continuing analysis of Paddock’s communications devices.
Although investigators believe the digital and physical trail Paddock left in his wake is crucial to resolving his motive for the attack, the official cautioned that the information recovered — including his interests in locations beyond Las Vegas — have so far not led authorities to any firm conclusions.
Investigators looking into Paddock’s background and his movements before his killing spree erupted in Las Vegas say he must have had some help along the way given his huge arsenal and precise plans, but they have no idea who that might be.
While Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo suggested that Paddock may have had a plan of escape following his assault, the federal official said the gunman had limited options, even though he had rigged surveillance cameras to monitor the outside hallway of his hotel room.
By the time heavily armed Paddock, dug in on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, would have been alerted to trouble outside, the official said the gunman would have been boxed in.
Investigators believe Paddock was the sole gunman, but they are attempting to determine whether others provided assistance, either wittingly or unwittingly. “You have to make the assumption that he had some help at some point,” Lombardo said.
Paddock lived a low-key, private life, including spending hours playing highstakes video poker in Las Vegas casinos.
Paddock’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, 62, said in a statement that she had no idea what he was planning or why.
Danley, who was in the Philippines when the shooting occurred, flew back to the United States and is cooperating with authorities.