As of October 8, the US authorities did not give an official explanation of the motives of 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 people in Las Vegas on the evening of October 1 and injured about 500 more, after which he shot himself.
However, the media revealed the contents of the tapes that were found in his hotel room.
— Complete list of names of Las Vegas massacre victims
Police officer Dave Newton of the K-9 unit, who discovered the note in Paddock’s room after SWAT fighters blew the door, said it was shooting calculations based on height above the ground and distance to targets, according to CBS News.
Four police officers who appeared on the air of CBS believe that Paddock aimed to shoot in such a way that there were as many casualties as possible. The crowd of people attending the Country Music Festival was about 400 meters from the window of the 135th room of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, located on the 32nd floor.
Stephen Paddock was a skilled marksman. It is known that over the past several years he has been actively acquiring firearms. He was not an avid hunter, but he was a good shot and was a member of the US National Rifle Organization (NRA).
Investigations revealed that Paddock had acquired a total of 47 firearms, including rifles, shotguns and pistols. All of these weapons were purchased legally in the states of Nevada, Utah, California and Texas. The 12 semi-automatic rifles were fitted with a «bump-stock» — a removable sliding stock that allows for very fast firing, effectively turning them into fully automatic. The sale of such rate-of-fire devices is not illegal in the United States.
Ten small containers weighing 450 g each were found in Stephen Paddock’s car, each containing a tannerite explosive. There were also two 9-kilogram boxes of tannerite and about 1600 cartridges. According to the investigation, he was preparing not only for mass murder, but also for a possible escape.
