Why is there still no motive in Las Vegas mass shooting? 8 reasons the case is so unique
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Five days after the deadliest mass shooting in US history, we are still no closer to the truth.
Police know that Stephen Paddock , a 64-year-old retired accountant opened fire on a crowd watching the Route 91 country music festival in Las Vegas.
Holed up in a hotel suite at the Mandalay Bay, he pumped round after round into completely innocent people enjoying a Sunday evening.
Paddock was able to kill 58 and injured more than 500 others with an arsenal of 23 guns, including some modified to fire more rapidly.
As a SWAT team closed in, he turned one of the weapons on himself and took his own life - and seemingly any prospect of understanding why he committed such an atrocious crime.
(Image: Twitter)
Speaking to the press on Friday night, Las Vegas Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said: "To date, we have run down well more than 1,000 leads in this investigation.
"While some of it has helped create a better profile into the madness of this suspect, we do not still have a clear motive or reason why."
Here are some of the difficulties that police are facing:
1. No suicide note or message
Despite reports to the contrary, police have repeatedly stated that they have not found any form of suicide note.
A scrap of paper and a pen were spotted in leaked pictures from inside Paddock's hotel room, near to his body.
(Image: @MikeTokes/Twitter)
(Image: Getty)
But police said it contained only a set of random numbers and no letters.
It is being "analysed for relevance" but at this point does not seem a significant piece of evidence.
Paddock's electronic devices have also been searched and so far no form of suicide note has been found.
There have been some examples of similar mass shootings with an apparent lack of motive.
(Image: Getty Images North America)
Tristan van der Vlis, who killed six people and injured 17 in a shooting at a shopping centre in Amsterdam in 2011, is one example.
But the 24-year-old at least left a note which, although it didn't explain why, expressed suicidal feelings.
2. No political or religious pledge
Within hours of the Las Vegas massacre, ISIS had claimed responsiblity.
The Islamic terror group has stuck robustly to the claim despite having offered no evidence whatsoever to back it up.
The group claims Paddock was a 'soldier of the caliphate' who converted to Islam six months ago.
IS claims such attacks even if the 'lone wolf' involved never had any direct contact with jihadists.
(Image: Getty)
Omar Mateen, who killed 49 in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida last year, was such an example.
But in the hours before the atrocity, Mateen posted on Facebook about vengeance for US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
And during the shooting, he made a 911 call again making reference to ISIS.
In Paddock's case, no such evidence has been found that he was either in direct contact with ISIS, or was inspired by the group.
He had no known political or religious affiliations, as far as loved ones are concerned, and police have found nothing so far to suggest he was keeping them deeply hidden.
3. No evidence of sadistic or ritualistic killing
Some apparently 'motiveless' killings have been linked to a warped sense of enjoyment in violence.
Murders carried out purely for the sake of finding out what it's like to take a human life.
Such sadistic crimes often have ritualistic themes.
A recent example in the UK would be the so-called 'Twilight murders' committed by Kim Edwards and boyfriend Lucas Markham when both were just 14.
Lucas stabbed Kim's mum Liz and 13-year-old sister Katie to death with chilling disregard for his actions.
The teen couple then had sex before calmly sitting down to watch three Twilight films as the bodies lay upstairs.
Did Paddock carry out mass murder in pursuit of some evil thrill?
If so, again there has been no evidence found so far to suggest he held such psychopathic tendencies.
For 64 years, it appeared no one who knew him had any cause for serious concern.
4. No evidence of mental health problems or a criminal record
Stephen Paddock had no criminal record and appears to have acquired his guns legally, passing background checks.
Police have not shared full details of his medical history, but have said they have found nothing which points to a significant mental health problem.
It has been reported Paddock had recently been taking Valium, an anti-anxiety drug.
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
It can be known to provoke outbursts of violence in some people as a side effect.
But investigators do not believe it likely the drug played any role at this point.
The shooting clearly demanded a large amount of planning, and was executed calmly and effectively.
It was not a random, sudden release of anger.
And Valium remains one of the most popular drugs in America, taken by millions and has not been linked to mass murder before.
Paddock's girlfriend Marilou Danley has said he sometimes would scream out and moan in the night.
But what she has told the FBI so far still does not point to a clear motive.
(Image: Twitter)
Nevertheless, Paddock was clearly a troubled individual.
Anyone who kills and injures hundreds of people is suffering abnormal mental function.
And it must remain one of the prime areas of investigation.
Perhaps one clue lies in Paddock's family history.
His father was Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, a serial bank robber who ended up on the FBI Most Wanted list back in 1969 when he escaped from federal prison in Texas while serving a 20 year sentence.
The FBI kept him on the list for the next eight years, and he was eventually found one year after he was removed from the list in 1978 while outside an Oregon Bingo hall.
The agency said that the fugitive had been ‘diagnosed as psychopathic’ and also had possible ‘suicidal tendencies’.
5. 'Gun obsession' kept hidden
Like many aspects of his life, Stephen Paddock apparently kept his love of guns a secret.
Police found 23 in his hotel suite, some of which had been upgraded with 'bump stocks' which enabled him to fire bullets more rapdily.
A further 19 guns were found at his home in Mesquite, Nevada.
This arsenal of 42 weapons was apparently acquired over years by Paddock.
(Image: Getty Images North America)
But despite spending what must have been a huge amount of money, there has so far been no evidence of him enjoying shooting.
It doesn't appear that he was a member of a gun range.
He didn't seem to talk to those close to him about guns.
So if the shooting was about Paddock's love of weaponry, how come there were no clues beforehand?
6. ‘Evidence’ he wanted to escape
Another unusual fact in this case is that police have said Paddock wanted to escape afterwards.
They believe he committed suicide when he realised he was cornered by the SWAT team.
But before that, it is suggested he had been hoping to survive the attack.
Talking about the moments before police stormed the hotel room, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said: "He was doing everything possible to see how he could escape at this point."
Mass killings motivated by a political or religious cause, such as the recent Islamic terror attacks in Europe, are almost always suicide missions.
The attackers see themselves as martyrs to the cause.
The idea is to kill as many people as possible before authorities take them down.
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Even in mass shootings not motivated by religious fanaticism, the perpetrators usually intend to take their own lives rather than risk facing justice.
Rarely have such killers thought of carrying out such a large-scale attack and believed they might still get away.
What does this tell us about Paddock's rationality?
7. No social media or online 'footprint'
In 2017, a suspect's online 'footprint' is often a huge part of a criminal investigation.
Stephen Paddock had no Facebook or Twitter account, or any other social media profile that has been found so far.
The most well-resourced law enforcement agencies in the world have been hunting for clues for five days and so far have found nothing.
Not to mention that the world's media have also been following this case and haven't added much either.
Most information on Stephen Paddock has come from snippets of his 'real-life' interactions with people.
A Starbucks employee in Mesquite said that he was often very rude to his girlfriend Marilou in front of staff.
Some neighbours said they found him aloof, others quite considerate.
Casino staff described him as someone who was unfriendly and didn't smile a lot.
While these descriptions give us more of an indication of Paddock's character, they are hardly unusual.
They could probably describe a lot of the full-time gamblers who inhabit Las Vegas.
8. Closest friends and family can offer nothing
Perhaps most troubling of all is that those closest to Stephen Paddock can't offer much either.
His brother Eric, who has spoken in public repeatedly since the atrocity, appears as shocked as anyone about what has happened.
(Image: CBS/Twitter)
"It's like an asteroid fell out of the sky," Eric said.
Though the two didn't talk a lot, Eric had no idea that Stephen Paddock was into guns and does not believe he had any strong religious or political views.
Eric revealed that Stephen was financially successful as a gambler and property investor and was likely a multi-millionaire.
Paddock had married and divorced twice, but had no children.
His girlfriend Marilou Danley recently returned from the Philippines in the hope she can offer an insight into his state of mind.
She said Paddock encouraged her to take a cheap flight to the Philippines weeks before the shooting to see her family.
While she was there, he wired her $100,000 and said it was for her to buy a house for her family.
Marilou told investigators she feared the money and trip were an indication Paddock wanted to break up.
She said she had no idea of his intentions.
"I knew Stephen Paddock as a kind, caring, quiet man," she said in a statement.
"I loved him and hoped for a quiet future together with him.
"He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of that I understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to happen."
These are the words of perhaps the only person who knew Stephen Paddock intimately before he carried out the shooting.
If she had no idea, who will?