The Latest: Trump Somber In Visit To Stricken Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Latest on the mass shooting in Las Vegas (all times local):
9:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump was somber Wednesday as he visited hospital bedsides and a vital police base in stricken Las Vegas.
He offered prayers and condolences to the victims of Sunday night's shooting massacre, along with the nation's thanks to first responders and doctors who rushed to save lives.
Trump said, "America is truly a nation in mourning." And he spoke of the families who "tonight will go to bed in a world that is suddenly empty."
He told those families: "We know that your sorrow feels endless. We stand together to help you carry your pain. "
It was a somber address from a provocateur president who prides himself on commanding strength but sometimes has struggled to project empathy at times of tragedy.
___
6:10 p.m.
A Texas firearms dealer who had sold handguns to Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock in 2010 and 2011 remembers him coming into the shop last year with girlfriend Marilou Danley.
Paul Peddle, who owns B & S Guns in Garland, Texas, said Wednesday that Paddock didn't buy anything on the most recent visit but asked about a way to modify a gun to make it easier to pull the trigger.
He said Paddock had never purchased any long guns that could have been used in the attack on a crowd of concertgoers on Sunday.
Peddle said Danley didn't show any interest in guns.
___
6:05 p.m.
A brother of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock says he has not seen his brother for 20 years and they were not communicating.
Patrick Paddock said Wednesday he has no memories of the time the family lived in Tucson, Arizona, and he was only 3 when they moved to Southern California.
The oldest of four children, shooter Stephen Paddock was 7 when his father was arrested for bank robbery.
Patrick Paddock said he had no stories to share about growing up with Stephen Paddock.
___
6 p.m.
A former high school classmate of the Las Vegas shooter recalls him as a brainy kid who tried to blend in with the regular crowd.
Former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon recalled Wednesday that Stephen Paddock had a dose of cynicism or irreverence toward authority.
Paddock wasn't above breaking the rules, for example, if it meant turning in the best project possible for a high school computer science class.
Alarcon knew Paddock growing up in California's San Fernando Valley as an average athlete who played pickup baseball and football in an after-school program while the two were attending separate elementary schools.
He says he never would have believed that Paddock could carry out the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history.
___
5:50 p.m.
Authorities say the Las Vegas shooter sprayed 200 rounds of gunfire into the hallway when a security guard approached his hotel room, but the guard was only hit in the leg.
Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters Wednesday that the wounded guard then helped a group of police officers clear out rooms on the 32nd floor of the hotel.
He says Stephen Paddock planned to survive and escape but didn't say how.
___
5:30 p.m.
Authorities say the Las Vegas shooter had 1,600 rounds of ammunition and several containers of an explosive commonly used in target shooting that totaled 50 pounds in his car.
Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters Wednesday that he didn't know what Stephen Paddock was planning with the explosives, if anything.
Lombardo also said none of the cameras Paddock put up in the hotel room where he unleashed gunfire onto a concert crowd were recording. Authorities say he set up cameras in the peephole of the door and outside the room to watch for police closing in on him.
The sheriff also gave a timeline of the shooting. The first shots began at 10:05 p.m. Sunday and ended 10 minutes later.
___
5:20 p.m.
Officials say the Las Vegas shooter rented a room in downtown around the same time as an alternative music festival held Sept. 22-24.
Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters that Stephen Paddock rented a room through Airbnb at the Ogden hotel in downtown Las Vegas but didn't know why. He says investigators have recovered items and video from the hotel.
The Life is Beautiful festival featured Chance the Rapper, Muse, Lorde and Blink-182.
___
3:50 p.m.
The Las Vegas shooter's girlfriend says in a statement that she knew him "as a kind, caring, quiet man."
Marilou Danley's lawyer read the statement to reporters on Wednesday in Los Angeles, where she was questioned by FBI agents about gunman Stephen Paddock.
Danley says Paddock found her a cheap ticket to the Philippines and wanted her to take a trip home to see relatives.
She says he wired her money while she was there to buy a house for herself and her family.
The statement says she worried that Paddock wanted to break up with her.
She added that "it never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone."
___
3:15 p.m.
An attorney for the Las Vegas shooter's girlfriend says she had no knowledge of any plans by him to commit a massacre.
Marilou Danley's lawyer said Wednesday she plans to cooperate fully with the investigation of her boyfriend Stephen Paddock.
Defense attorney Matthew Lombard spoke in Los Angeles after Danley met with FBI agents to discuss Sunday's carnage on the Las Vegas strip.
She returned to the U.S. Tuesday night from the Philippines, where she was visiting family.
While she was there, Paddock, a high-stakes gambler, sent her $100,000.
Lombard says she was not expecting the money and worried that he was breaking up with her.
___
This version corrects to show Danley said she had no knowledge of any plans.
____
3:04 p.m.
The high-stakes gambler who opened fire on a Las Vegas music festival crowd asked for an upper-floor suite that provided a view of the concert site.
A person who has seen Mandalay Bay hotel records that have been turned over to investigators said Wednesday they show Stephen Paddock asked for the two-room suite on the 32nd floor when he checked in last Thursday. The room wasn't available until Saturday and he moved into it then and opened fire from it the next night, killing dozens and wounding hundreds.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly and disclosed the information to The Associated Press only on condition of anonymity.
The person said Paddock was given the room for free because he was a good customer who wagered tens of thousands of dollars each time he visited the casino.
