Nation & World Glance
Las Vegas gunman’s ‘secret life’ left girlfriend in the dark
LAS VEGAS — The gunman behind the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history led a “secret life” that has so far thwarted investigators trying to figure out a motive for the attack, authorities said Wednesday.
In an effort to try to crack Stephen Paddock’s state of mind, the FBI spent hours interviewing his longtime girlfriend, who returned Tuesday from a weekslong overseas trip and said she had no inkling of the massacre he was plotting when he sent her to see family in her native Philippines.
“He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of that I understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to happen,” Marilou Danley, 62, said in a statement read by her lawyer outside FBI headquarters in Los Angeles.
Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said it’s difficult to believe Paddock acted alone in the attack Sunday that killed 58 and injured nearly 500 people at a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip.
“Maybe he’s a super guy,” Lombardo said before catching himself and calling it the wrong word. “You know, a super yay-hoo that was working out all this on his own. But it would be hard for me to believe that.”
Solemn Trump in Vegas: ‘America truly a nation in mourning’
LAS VEGAS — Solemn in the face of tragedy, President Donald Trump visited hospital bedsides and a vital police base in stricken Las Vegas on Wednesday, offering prayers and condolences to the victims of Sunday night’s shooting massacre, along with the nation’s thanks to first responders and doctors who rushed to save lives.
“America is truly a nation in mourning,” the president declared, days after a gunman on the 32nd floor of a hotel and casino opened fire on the crowd at an outdoor country music festival below. The rampage killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500, many from gunfire, others from chaotic efforts to escape.
In Las Vegas, Trump spoke of the families who “tonight will go to bed in a world that is suddenly empty.”
“Our souls are stricken with grief for every American who lost a husband or a wife, a mother or a father, a son or a daughter,” he told them. “We know that your sorrow feels endless. We stand together to help you carry your pain. “
It was a somber address from a provocateur president who prides himself on commanding strength but sometimes has struggled to project empathy at times of tragedy.
3 U.S. Army special operations commandos killed in Niger
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials said three U.S. Army special operations commandos were killed Wednesday and two others were wounded when they came under fire in southwest Niger.
The officials said the two wounded were taken to Niamey, the capital, and are in stable condition. The officials were not authorized to discuss the incident publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
The officials said the commandos, who were Green Berets, were likely attacked by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb militants.
In a statement, U.S. Africa Command said the forces were with a joint U.S. and Nigerien patrol north of Niamey, near the Mali border, when they came under hostile fire.
Africa Command said the U.S. forces are in Niger to provide training and security assistance to the Nigerien Armed Forces in their efforts against violent extremists.
Tillerson denies he weighed resigning or called boss ‘moron’
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared Wednesday he never considered resigning as President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, disputing what he called “erroneous” reports that he wanted to step down earlier this year. After pointedly refusing to answer if he called the president a “moron,” Tillerson had a spokeswoman deny he used such language.
Thrust into the spotlight under uncomfortable circumstances, the normally camera-shy Tillerson sought to rebut a widely disseminated NBC News story that claimed Vice President Mike Pence had to talk the former oil man out of resigning over the summer, and that Tillerson had questioned Trump’s intelligence. The explosive claims followed several instances in which Trump and Tillerson’s policy pronouncements have appeared to clash.
“There has never been a consideration in my mind to leave,” Tillerson told reporters in an unusually personal address from the State Department’s staid 7th-floor Treaty Room outside of his office.
From Las Vegas, where he traveled to meet with medical personnel and others affected by the mass shooting there, Trump told reporters he has “total confidence” in Tillerson. Earlier, Trump denounced the report as “fake news” on Twitter.
Sheriff: Arrest of man with guns ‘made all the difference’
A man caught carrying numerous weapons including two submachine guns and 900 rounds of ammunition had lost custody of his children and written hostile letters to local judges, authorities said Wednesday.
Washington County Sheriff Ed Graybeal said Scott Edmisten won’t talk, so officials are still trying to determine why he had the weapons, as well as a mask and black fatigues, when he was pulled over for speeding before dawn Monday.
Graybeal said guns and ammunition are common in Tennessee, but that it was “odd” for all the guns and clips to be loaded, and for Edmisten to have 900 more rounds and survival gear. In addition, he said, when people have survival gear with them, they are usually going hunting, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Graybeal said he has asked state and federal agencies to assist in the case since the automatic weapons aren’t registered and lack serial numbers.
“Whatever he had planned for that morning, that little traffic stop that one of my guys made all the difference in the world to someone, I believe,” Graybeal said. “It’s just one of those situations where nothing seemed right and we wanted to make sure that everyone was OK, especially since he’d been sending letters to the courts.”
Edmisten, 43, has been jailed without bond on charges of possessing prohibited weapons, speeding, and felony evading arrest. An attorney listed in court records as representing Edmisten didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. A bond hearing was set for Oct. 11.
143 arrested after protest blocks St. Louis highway traffic
ST. LOUIS — Police arrested 143 people after protesters blocked traffic on a busy highway near downtown St. Louis as part of the ongoing demonstrations against the recent acquittal of a white former police officer in the 2011 killing of a black man.
Protesters gathered Tuesday evening and marched to Interstate 64, where some walked onto the roadway and blocked traffic for several minutes. Police began arresting people after protesters left the highway.
Police haven’t said what charges they will face. A spokeswoman for the Circuit Attorney’s office said they likely will be charged in municipal court.