Las Vegas Massacre Motive Still A Mystery
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LAS VEGAS (CBSMiami) - Investigators are still trying to figure out why a 64-year-old man, with no prior arrests, opened fire on a concert in Las Vegas Sunday night, leading to the deadliest mass shooting in modern U-S history.
Fifty nine people were killed, 527 were injured.
Stephen Paddock broke windows on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel Sunday night with a hammer and then opened fire on a crowded music festival before killing himself.
Murrell Sailers said his boss and his friend both got hit by bullets as they tried to flee the area.
"You look to the right and people start spreading out. And two metro officers come up, flashlights, and I was like 'hey, what's going on over there'? I go over there to look. She's kind of mad, my wife's mad. So I go over there and I'm like 'hey, what's going on over there'? Six or seven people are all laid out. Neck wounds, chest wounds, they're done," he said.
Sailers' wife Nicole said people were just dropping around her, adding that it was "like being in a warzone".
Survivors, returning home, say the night will stay with them forever.
"I looked behind me and a woman was shot in her neck. The blood was just coming out all over the place, and she collapsed on the ground, and then there was another woman next to her and her leg was shot," said Elisa Sang.
Investigators say Paddock, a retired accountant turned professional gambler, acted alone. He checked into the Mandalay Bay Hotel last Thursday and brought in bags of guns. On Monday they raided his home in Mesquite, Nevada.
"We have recovered 23 firearms at Mandalay Bay and 19 firearms at his home in Mesquite," said Las Vegas police assistant sheriff Todd Fasulo.
Police say they also found, in Paddock's car, several pounds of ammonium nitrate - a fertilizer that can be turned into explosives.
"He was considered a professional gambler, you know. So, he had the money to back it up. Only time will tell, once they investigate, as to was it the gambling (that) caused him to snap," said Paddock's neighbor Al Legan.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack but law enforcement said it hasn't found any connection to back up that up. The shooter's brother insists Paddock had no religious affiliation, nor any political agenda.
"He has no history of violence in any way, shape, or form. He's been divorced twice and he's friends, good friends with both of his exes," said Eric Paddock.
Paddock's father was once on the FBI's Most Wanted list. The agency described Benjamin Paddock as a bank robber who was psychopathic and was considered armed and very dangerous.
Monday night there were worldwide tributes to those who died. The Eiffel Tower in Paris went dark. The Empire State Building lit, only, with a rotating halo for gun violence awareness. President Trump is scheduled to visit Las Vegas on Wednesday.