The FBI is trying to determine the motive of 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, who on the evening of October 1 killed 58 people in Las Vegas and injured about 500 more, after which he shot himself.
— Complete list of names of Las Vegas massacre victims
According to the New York Times, no evidence has yet been found that Stephen Paddock held extremist views. The contents of computers and mobile phones Paddock carefully studied . Also, the investigation did not establish whether Paddock suffered from a mental disorder.
University of Nevada and Las Vegas professor Stephen Benning noted that Paddock’s behavior is not like that of a psychopath. He did not show the impulsiveness characteristic of psychopaths, he did not have serious problems with the law, he never attacked people.
Former FBI officer David Gomez, who specialized in compiling psychological portraits of criminals, also noted that Paddock, unlike cold-blooded killers planning their crime, did not seek to isolate himself from society: he met a woman, kept in touch with relatives, and communicated with neighbors.
A friend of Paddock’s, Australian Marilou Dunley, said that he sometimes showed signs of mental illness: for example, he lay in bed, moaning and repeating: «Oh my God!». Her words are quoted by the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Paddock and Dunley met at the Atlantis Casino Resort and Spa in Reno. At the same time, a former employee of this complex said that Paddock looked «arrogant». Another casino employee described him as «creepy.»
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.
According to the investigation, Paddock spent huge sums on the purchase of weapons, while spending less than a dollar a day on food.
As a reminder, on October 2, the Amaq agency reported that the Islamic State terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the murder of people in Las Vegas. The report said that the gunman was one of the IS «soldiers» who converted to Islam a few months ago and took the name Abu Abd el-Bar.
However, the FBI soon stated that the investigation had not revealed Paddock’s ties to the Islamists. According to the FBI and the Las Vegas sheriff’s office, searches in Paddock’s hotel room and his home in Mesquite did not find anything that would confirm his connection with the Islamic State — no trace of correspondence or conversations with IS emissaries, nor religious literature, nor any things with Islamist symbols . In addition, until now, IS has not tried to recruit fighters over 55 years old in the United States, as a rule they were young men 20-40 years old.
Paddock had no social media pages.
In the hotel room where Paddock shot himself, a notebook with some numbers was found, the American media write. The investigation stated that the recordings had nothing to do with the crime committed by Paddock.
Experts note that recently, through the Amaq agency, IS has repeatedly assumed responsibility for crimes that did not exist or to which this organization had nothing to do. For example, in September, IS claimed responsibility for planting a bomb at a Paris airport, although the report turned out to be false, and also claimed that 36 people in a casino in Manila were killed by an IS militant, although the Philippine authorities came to the unequivocal conclusion that the massacre was committed a «problem player» not associated with the Islamists.
