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Las Vegas Shooting: What We Know Now
Image via ABC News.
At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 hurt in the largest mass shooting in US history. The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, fired from his 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay hotel onto the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.
When confronted by police, Paddock killed himself. No motive is known at this time. He was a retired accountant from Mesquite, NV. His brother said “he was a wealthy guy playing video poker… on cruises,” adding that he could afford anything he wanted. Paddock’s father, now deceased, was a bank robber who was on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list.
The shooter had no criminal record. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said, “We had no knowledge of this individual. I don’t know how it could have been prevented.”
President Donald Trump called the attack “an act of pure evil” and praised the Las Vegas police. The President and the First Lady will lead a moment of silence at 2:45 pm ET/11:45 PT to honor those killed.
Published in General
According to an article on the Thompson Reuters site at http://news.trust.org/item/20171002142139-okyax he was a recent convert to Islam: “Islamic state claims Las Vegas shooting, says attacker recent convert to Islam.”
A weary nation asks “Why?”
Still waters run deep and a placid surface my hide a foul and feted cesspit.
That’s a 400 yard shot, according to a rough measurement on Google Earth. That’s an incredible amount of lead flying from one shooter.
Dang, it’s impossible to understand the mind of such a monster.
EDs,
I just made this comment on your previous post.
Richard,
This exactly. Have we all forgotten that ISIS had specifically targeted Las Vegas last year and made a terror video about attacks targeting Vegas. They have been looking for lone wolf crazies they can convert and use. ISIS claims Paddock converted in the last few months. I couldn’t possibly say whether this was true or not but there would be great plausibility that this is ISIS related. The FBI is just buying time claiming no “direct” relation with ISIS. We already know that direct relationships aren’t necessary for a Jihad inspired attack.
Maybe ISIS knows something that the FBI doesn’t or doesn’t want us to know just yet.
With No Evidence, Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Las Vegas Shooting
Regards,
Jim
So we believe ISIS and not the FBI? That’s a place I just can’t go. Let’s wait and see how this all plays out instead of making declarative statements while bodies are still being sent to the morgue.
400 yards is not a long shot for a battle rifle, and he had an area target. I listened to a bit of the video during the incident and it’s definitely automatic weapons fire (ergo, a battle rifle) with a reload after expending a magazine.
No, it’s not to far for a long rifle, but to hit that many people that quickly means a ton of lead is flying a short in a short amount of time.
I’m trying not to imagine too many of the details because it just turns my stomach.
An interesting thread here on the regulation of fully-automatic firearms.
I believe the FBI. ISIS has an official supporters list, which the FBI has, and he wasn’t on it. ISIS sends an update each day to the FBI listing its supporters. It’s like the 1960s movie Mirage where the members of an international conspiracy have special rings. /s
I agree. Holy cow.
This early on there are many theories of responsibility flying about, as usual, in these incidents. Considering his age, this man seems an unlikely convert to Islam, but it can’t be ruled out. The fact that an ISIS spokesman is claiming him as a soldier has a degree of credibility only because they aren’t known for claiming guilt for things they didn’t do and proudly boast of success. The FBI is notoriously close mouthed during an investigation, and this one has only just begun.
lthl,
I made no declarative statements other then it was very plausible for this to be an ISIS inspired attack. I have no problem waiting for the FBI to sift through all the evidence and confirm or deny. Of course, we will be enduring the endless barrage of calls for the end to the second amendment from the left. I am doing little more than suggesting an obvious scenario. It is the left that is already in high gear exploiting the dead for a political point of view.
Regards,
Jim
A point to consider. Jihadist when attacking with guns or knives don’t kill themselves. They get killed by the cops who have to take them down. So it doesn’t fit the MO in this respect.
Which applies to several possible theories. Which makes, IMHO, a pretty good case for waiting 24 hours to see what we learn.
And what of this Marilou Danley person who lived with Paddock. The FBI say she’s not involved? Hello? For several days they stayed in a lovely room at the Mandalay full of dangerous weapons, and she’s not involved? And what of the reports from the 21 year-old girl who talked to the press about two Hispanic people claiming they were all going to die that night? She seemed credible. The Daily Mail is full of facts as well as rumor. It will take a while to run it all down to find the truth.
Jim, I reread your comment and I apologize for my unnecessarily harsh reply.
@tommeyer, let not common sense prevail. HRC is already whining about the NRA and silencers…
Val,
Suicide is always part of the package. When you detonate yourself amoung as many innocent people as you can suicide goes without saying.
I can’t imagine how the sheer ferocity of the attack combined with the meticulous planning could be explained by him “snapping”. If the casino mistreated him why attack the country music festival. The fact that 20,000 people were all herded together gives the answer if you are a Jihadist looking to do maximum damage to “sin city”.
Val, all of this only provides plausibility. The FBI was checking his house for bombs and claimed not to have started the full search. If they find evidence of a conversion to Islam in the last few months then it really doesn’t matter too much whether ISIS gave him the “go” signal or not.
Regards,
Jim
Did they keep her from winning too?
If only there was a way to silence her.
I have a suggestion that applies equally to both sides of the political spectrum. Don’t speculate. Wait for the facts to come out. If your theory is right, it will be just as right three days from now. If it isn’t, spouting off at this point isn’t helping anything.
The fax? We’re gonna roll old school with this?
;-)
Oh gawd.
Jim, I was struck by the coincidence of reading your comment about the (very sad and dangerous to our Country) shredded credibility and reputation for integrity of the FBI after the Comey-Lynch-Holder-Obama-Hillary era very shortly after I first saw that headline about the FBI “decreeing” that the shooter was not connected with any international terrorist group and thought to myself “who believes them any longer?” Then, shortly after that, I read Byron York’s column about the FBI stonewalling the House Intelligence Committee now going into the second month about releasing documents concerning what almost certainly was a bogus “dossier” against Trump conducted by an investigator in England at the behest of a pro-far-left organization, which Comey apparently paid good US dollars (ours, not his) to get his hands on–and this is “the Trump FBI” now, or so we’re told. It should be noted, as well, that we are now almost one and a half months after that Committee issued a production subpoena, not one of those oh-so-Gentlemanly Requests as they did for Lois Lerner and the Hillary gang of hoodlums who assisted her in her destruction of documents under subpoena! They are giving the same back-of-the-hand treatment to the Senate Judiciary Committee in its search for the same documents, in which the public has a great interest for the content of the apparently spurious “dossier” and also to know the reason our former “Eagle Scout” FBI Director was so eager to pay for it. So, for what it’s worth, let the record show that I am in full agreement with your conclusion, as I have now reached the point at which I dismiss, out of hand, any conclusory statement made by or on behalf of the FBI. By the way, it seems the FBI statement was made within a few hours of the horror in Las Vegas. Does this not give reasonable minds just a bit of pause and does it not raise the question how, exactly, did they make such a significant determination in a matter of a few hours, and on what basis is that conclusion based. Judging by the way they are fighting the House and Senate, I think one has every reason to be highly skeptical of them. I certainly am. Sincerely, Jim
It’s also typical of non-Jihadist shooters. The Columbine kids killed themselves, as did the kid at Sandy Hook, as did the one at Virginia Tech… quite a few of the others, I believe.
What’s odd here is his age and the (apparent) smarts involved in choosing a venue and acquiring some serious firepower. I don’t know what to make of that, but we’ll likely find out.
HRC – this one’s for you. (As well as your toadies and minions.)
Yes. Also for the people suggesting it’s jihad, or any other ideological thing. We don’t know yet. It doesn’t hurt to wait and see.
And my (redacted)ing relatives in Scotland and Canada. Thank God for the “block” feature on FB
I don’t know that this is about politics, although it’s certainly reasonable to be skeptical of the FBI. We are all merely curious and posting information we’ve seen on legitimate outlets on the net. Reporters notoriously repeat rumors as fact, unfortunately. This early in the game it’s almost impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff.