(CNN)Stephen Paddock, who sent bullets and terror down on thousands attending a Jason Aldean concert in Las Vegas, had an arsenal in his 32nd-floor hotel room and in his home 80 miles away, officials said.
Police recovered 23 guns from his Las Vegas hotel room and another 19 guns from Paddock’s home in Mesquite, Nevada, Clark County Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo said.
Authorities said Paddock killed 59 people and wounded another 527 early Monday from the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
In the hours after the retired accountant dedicated the shooting, authorities rolled out frightening new details, including the discovery of scopes on rifles at the resort and explosives at his dwelling.
But what they could not explain is why the guy who had never faced any noteworthy criminal charges did it. There was no known motive late Monday.
Even Paddock’s brother had no answers.
“We’re still just completely befuddled. Dumbstruck,” Eric Paddock said in Orlando, Florida.
Latest developments
— A group of six officers spoke with security in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where Paddock was staying, and searched the hotel floor-by-floor Sunday night until they discovered Paddock’s room, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters.
— Paddock, 64, fired at the officers through the door, Lombardo said. A SWAT team broke down the door, but Paddock had already killed himself, Lombardo said.
— Authorities recovered 23 guns from Paddock’s room, said Clark County NV Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo. Lombardo said several of the rifles had scopes on them.
— Another 19 firearms, along with explosives and several million rounds of ammunition in Paddock’s Mesquite, Nevada, home. The gunman apparently had smashed two windows out to increase his range of targets.
— The sheriff said a SWAT team was standing by in a house in northern Nevada. A law enforcement official confirmed the FBI is present in Reno.
— Sandra Casey, a special education teacher in Manhattan Beach, California, was murdered, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District said. “We lost a spectacular teacher who devoted her life to helping some of our most needy students,” school board President Jennifer Cochran said.
— Police had no prior knowledge of the gunman before the attack,Lombardosaid. “I don’t know how it could have been prevented,” he said.
— Paddock bought multiple firearms previously, but investigators believe the firearms were purchased legally, a law enforcement official said. The official said initial reports indicate at least one rifle was modified to be the automatic weapon.
‘Everyone’s dying around me’
Witnesses described the horror that unfolded.
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.”
Alexandria Cheplak, 25, called her father as she ran from the bullets.
“Everyone’s dying around me,” Jon Cheplak recalled her saying. “Everyone’s dying. They shot my friend … I’ve got to get out of here.”
Police said Paddock, unleashed a hailstorm of bullets from the 32nd floor of the resort, Lombardo said Monday.
Authorities are still piecing together a motive.
“I can’t get into the mind of a psychopath,” the sheriff said.
Mayor Carolyn Goodman described the gunman as “a crazed lunatic full of hate.”
Festival turns into massacre
Benge lauded the heroics of his sister, who “threw herself on top of me and said, ‘I love you, Taylor,’” he said.
“Even after an hour and 30 minutes, I didn’t know if I was safe.”
Witness Bryan Hopkins said he survived by jumping into a walk-in freezer in the Mandalay Bay hotel.
“There must have been, I don’t know, 23 to 30 of us inside this freezer,” he said.
Corrine Lomas recalled the heroism of fellow concertgoers, risking their lives to save others.
“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 investigation
Police said they think Paddock acted alone. “Right now, we believe it’s a sole actor, a lone-wolf-type actor,” the sheriff said.
So far, the massacre has no known link to overseas terrorism or terror groups, a US official with knowledge of the case said.
And a woman who was described as a “person of interest” after the attack is now not believed to be involved in the shooting, police said in a statement.
“Marilou Danley is no longer being sought out as a person of interest,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said. “LVMPD detectives have made contact with her and do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip.”
The gunman’s brother, Eric Paddock, said he was stunned to learn Stephen was believed responsible.
He explained his brother, a retired accountant, as “a wealthy guy. He liked to play video poker. He went on cruises.”
The last time Eric Paddock spoke to his brother was when Stephen texted him, asking how their mother was doing after losing power from Hurricane Irma.
Eric Paddock said he knew his brother owned a couple of handguns and maybe one long rifle, but said he did not know of any automatic weapons.
Blood donations needed
With countless sufferers still hospitalized, officials feared the death toll will rise.
The sheriff implored the community to donate blood. And hundreds of Nevadans did that.
Shanda Maloney tweeted a photograph while she stood in line at 4:30 a.m.
Maloney told CNN she also gave transportation to anyone who needed it after the attack.
“I just started picking people up and giving people rides,” she said.
Aldean speaks out
Aldean submitted a statement on Instagram stating that he and his team were safe.
“My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night,” he wrote.
Tonight has been beyond horrific. I dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone. It hurts my heart that this would occur to anybody who just came out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate
A post shared by Jason Aldean (@jasonaldean) on
Country singer Jake Owen, who was on stage with Aldean, said children were among the crowd.
“I saw kids on their parents’ shoulders tonight,” he said. “This is something they’ll never forget.”
10 minutes of gunfire
Rachel De Kerf filmed her escape, starting just after the first shots were fired.
“The gunshots lasted for 10-15 minutes. It did not stop,” she said. “We just ran for our lives.”
Her sister, Monique Dumas, said everyone dropped to the ground as as the gunman sprayed bullets.
“It appeared there was a pause in the gunfire, and the people in the yellow shirts were telling the people to ‘go, go, go, go,’ ” she said. But “the gunfire never ended, it seemed like it went on and on and on.
A concertgoer told CNN affiliate KLAS that frantic concertgoers piled on top of one another, trying to escape the shooter’s line of fire.
“My husband and I ran out toward our car, and there were people hiding underneath my car for cover,” she said.
“There was a gentleman who was shot and he said, ‘Can you help me?’ And so I put him in my car, and I had like six people in my car — people without shoes, running, just to get away.”
‘Like shooting fish in a barrel’
Audio of the shooting implied that the shooter had utilized a military-style weapon, CNN law enforcement analyst James Gagliano said.
“Automatic weapon(s) like that — had to be numbers of magazines or a very large drum,” he said.
“It sounded to me like a belt-fed weapon, a military-style weapon. And then to be shooting down, to use the analogy, it was like shooting fish in a barrel in that space.”
As local hospitals rushed to treat hundreds of patents, some relatives were still trying to find their nearest and dearest.
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