Stephen Paddock, the 64-year-old shooter in Las Vegas, had 23 guns in the hotel room from where he had opened fire on Sunday at concert goers at an adjacent outdoor venue, investigators have found. However, they remained clueless about the potential motive behind the worst incident of mass shooting in the country’s recent history which left 59 dead and 527 injured.
Paddock had 19 more guns at his home, about 80 miles from Las Vegas, besides several thousand rounds of ammunition and “electronic devices”. The police also found explosive material in his car and home.
U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday. On Tuesday, as he left for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, Mr. Trump avoided a direct answer to questions on gun control laws. Asked whether the Las Vegas incident would prompt him to take up gun control legislation, the President said: “Look, we have a tragedy. What happened is, in many ways, a miracle. The police department, they’ve done such an incredible job. And we’ll be talking about gun laws as time goes on.”
Mr. Trump said the shooter was “a sick man, a demented man”, but did not reveal more on the progress of the investigations. Investigators are ploughing through the computers and other contacts maintained by Paddock in recent times.
Debate on definitions
The shooting on Sunday have also triggered a debate on how to describe the incident. The National Public Radio (NPR) had on Monday quoted Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Undersheriff Kevin McMahill terming the shooting as an act of “domestic terrorism”.
However, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo had a different take later on. “We have to establish what his motivation is first. And there’s motivating factors associated with terrorism other than a distraught person just intending to cause mass casualties,” the police chief said. He said said authorities had no evidence of a motive.
As per U.S. federal laws, if the perpetrator has a domestic political motivation, an act of violence could be termed an act of domestic terrorism.
