A day after the
deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, authorities are learning more
about Stephen Paddock, who fired into a crowd of thousands during a country
music festival from a Las Vegas hotel suite, and the weapons he kept.
At least 59 people were killed and 527 were
injured in the shooting that started late Sunday night. Police believe he
killed himself, ending the massacre.
Police searched the gunman's home in Mesquite,
Nevada, where they found at least 19 firearms, explosives, several thousand
rounds of ammunition and some electronic devices.
In Paddock's 32nd-floor hotel suite at the
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, police recovered 23 weapons, including a
handgun, and multiple rifles -- some had scopes on them. Authorities also found
several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives, in his
car.
As police uncovered more evidence, they're
still piecing together a motive.
There was no explanation on why Paddock, a
64-year-old retired accountant who had never faced any notable criminal
charges, unleashed a hailstorm of bullets into concertgoers.
-- Paddock was alive when he made first
contact with officers. A team of six officers spoke with security at the
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where Paddock was staying, and searched the
hotel floor-by-floor Sunday night before they found Paddock's suite, Clark
County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. Paddock had a large suite with
two rooms, he said.
-- Paddock fired at the officers through the
door and shot a security guard, Lombardo said. The guard was shot in the leg.
-- A SWAT team broke down the door, but
Paddock had already killed himself, he said.
In the life-or-death situation, Dees said
people were trying to take care of each other.
"It takes the worst of America to also
see the best of America. Everybody was helping each other," he said.
Corrine Lomas also recalled the heroism of
fellow concertgoers, risking their lives to save others as strangers pulled
each other to hide and tended to the injured.
"A lot of really good people (were)
holding people's wounds shut, trying to help them while everybody was just
ducked down," she said.
"The firing went on forever,"
another witness Kimberly Chilcote said.
She and her husband ran in short bursts --
sprinting and hiding to avoid being targeted.
"There were purses and shoes everywhere
... there were bodies and blood," she said. "We just kept
running."
Taylor Benge said he "could see a guy
with a bullet wound right in his neck, motionless," several feet away.
"From there on ... people just started dropping like flies."
Hundreds of Nevadans waited in long lines to give blood on
Monday, to help victims of the shooting. US blood banks have enough blood to
meet the immediate needs after the shooting, according to the chair of the AABB
Interorganizational Task Force on Domestic Disasters and Acts of Terrorism,
which assesses the need for blood collection after disasters.
People were also donating flights, housing,
food, transportation and other goods to victims' family members who are coming
to Las Vegas, said Chief Greg Cassell of the Clark County Nevada Fire
Department.
Those looking for friends and family still
missing after the attack can call 866-535-5654. Facebook has set up a crisis
response page to help people determine whether their loved ones
are safe.
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