Las Vegas gunman showed "true mark of a sociopath," retired police lieutenant says
LAS VEGAS -- Newly-released surveillance video shows Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock in the days before he opened fire from his Mandalay Bay hotel room, killing 58 people. MGM Resorts said it released the video because it wanted to provide greater context around Paddock's actions leading up to the shooting. The hotel said the images show that Paddock gave no outward indications of the massacre he was planning to carry out.
In the series of security videos, Paddock appears like any other guest. He checks into his suite on the 32nd floor, plays video poker and buys snacks at the gift shop – all the while interacting with hotel staff.
"He's so calm," CBS News correspondent Carter Evans noted, watching the videos.
"And that is the true mark of a sociopath," said Randy Sutton, a retired lieutenant with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
"He's going about his business, he's tipping the guys," Sutton said. "A guy who can order lunch knowing that he's going to kill people… that's not normal."
Paddock can be seen coming and going from the hotel wheeling luggage to his room, sometimes by himself and other times with a bellhop through this service elevator. Over seven days, he brought in 23 guns in at least 22 pieces of luggage.
"Should that have set off any alarm bells or red flags?" Carter asked.
"Not really, I mean, you can see that he plotted this very well," Sutton said. "He used different bell people every time he came in… so there wasn't one bell guy, 'Hmm, geez, why is this guy bringing in, you know, 4,000 pieces of luggage?'"
The security video tracks Paddock right up to the day of the shooting. He gambled into the early morning hours. That night, he would carry out the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
He killed 58 people and wounded more than 500. In January, investigators released a preliminary report saying police and the FBI believed Paddock acted alone. But nearly six months later, they still don't have a motive.
"Why would a guy who supposedly has a fairly happy, successful life… has plenty of money, has a home, has a girlfriend… what goes on inside a brain like that that suddenly triggers a mass murder?" Sutton said. "Will we ever know it? I think if we don't know now, we never will."
Paddock's girlfriend Marilou Danley was initially named in search warrants in connection with the case, as police reportedly looked into her social media accounts for any clues. But she is no longer considered a person of interest.