Las Vegas shooter ‘placed cameras’ around hotel suite
Gunman’s girlfriend a ‘person of interest’ in investigation, according to police
Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock set up a series of security cameras in and around his hotel room before the deadly attack on Sunday that left 59 people dead and hundreds more injured, according to police.
“The cameras — apparently intended to warn of approaching threats — along with the 23 guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and other equipment found in the shooter’s hotel suite, suggested a thought-out plan to have plenty of time to wreak carnage while holding the police at bay,” the New York Times says.
“This individual was pre-meditated. Obviously pre-meditated, the fact that he had the type of weaponry and the amount of weaponry in that room,” Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. “It was pre-planned extensively and I'm pretty sure he evaluated everything he did in his actions.”
Lombardo has also announced that Paddock’s Australian girlfriend, Marilou Danley, is a “person of interest” in the ongoing investigation, amid reports from CNN that Paddock transferred $100,000 to the Philippines in the days before the shooting.
Danley is reportedly cooperating with investigators, and is returning from the Philippines to the United States, the ABC says.
US officials have also revealed the vast arsenal of weapons recovered from Paddock’s hotel suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino, as well as properties in Mesquite and Reno.
“Police found 23 guns in Paddock's hotel room, as well as firearms and explosives at his home. In total, across three locations, 47 firearms have been recovered,” the BBC says.