Months Later, No Motive Determined In Las Vegas Shooting, Sheriff Says
LAS VEGAS (CBSLA/AP) - Authorities say Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock conducted an online search for the number of people who go to the beach in Santa Monica along with other potential targets before he carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Friday that investigators believe Paddock had searched for several other public venues and took photographs of other potential sites, but have yet to determine any motive for the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting.
The sheriff and the FBI have said they found no link to international terrorism, despite several claims of responsibility by ISIS following the shooting.
They said they believe Paddock meticulously prepared and concealed his plan to fire assault-style weapons from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below.
Paddock fired more than 1,100 bullets, mostly from two windows in the high-rise hotel, Lombardo has said. That includes about 200 shots fired through Paddock's hotel room door into a hallway where an unarmed hotel security guard was wounded in the leg and a maintenance engineer took cover to avoid being hit.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Las Vegas Shooting
A preliminary report about the shooting says Paddock searched for outdoor concert venues and the number of attendees at other concerts in Las Vegas. Investigators also found that Paddock had possessed child pornography, Lombardo said.
The report also says Paddock also searched for information about several other hotels in Las Vegas, including searches for "How tall is Mandalay Bay" and "Where is hard drive located" on Paddock's laptop.
According to Lombardo, no charges are expected to be filed against Marilou Danley, Paddock's girlfriend who was brought to Los Angeles after the shooting for questioning by the FBI. Lombardo did say there is an "ongoing case against an individual of federal interest" but would not provide further details.
Danley was in the Philippines at the time of the shooting.
Lombardo and Aaron Rouse, FBI agent in charge in Las Vegas, had described Danley as a person of interest in the investigation but not a suspect.
However, a document filed Oct. 6 and unsealed last Friday by a federal judge in Las Vegas said the FBI considered Danley "the most likely person who aided or abetted Stephen Paddock."
Questions have been raised about Danley's receipt in the Philippines of a $10,000 wire transfer from Paddock just days before the shooting.
Click here to read the full report from the LVMPD.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)