Las Vegas shooting: Police find phone charger in Stephen Paddock hotel room
Investigators are trying to determine whether anyone else was in the Las Vegas gunman's hotel room during the time he was registered there. And the team have come up with two shocking discoveries that suggest the 64-year-old gunman may have had an accomplice. First, a charger was found in his Mandalay Bay hotel room on the 32nd floor overlooking the Las Vegas strip that does not match any of the cellphones that belonged to the gunman. Secondly, garage records show that during a period when Paddock's car was left the hotel garage, one of his key cards was used to get into his room.
GETTY - REUTERS The charger did not belong to Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock
Detectives say there are several possible explanations for the anomalies, but officers want to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. Paddock unleashed a deadly barrage of bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on Sunday night, killing at least 59 people and injuring about 500 others who were attending the Route 91 country music festival below. It is feared Paddock could have spent more than 20 years plotting his devastating attack on innocent people in Las Vegas. And officials also believe Paddock may not have acted alone.
The aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting Thu, October 5, 2017 Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the music festival, leaving at least 59 people dead and over 527 injured Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 25 Personal belongings are gathered on the ground at the venue of the Route 91 Harvest Festival venue where FBI investigators continue work in the aftermath of the worst modern mass murder in US history in Las Vegas
Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said: “At face value, he had to have some help at some point and we want to ensure that that’s the answer “Maybe he was a superhuman who figured this out all on his own but it would be hard for me to believe that.” It was initially thought his girlfriend Marilou Danley could have been involved in the attack, but she was in the Philippines at the time of the mass shooting - the worst in recent US history. On her return, Ms Danley, an Australian citizen, was interviewed by FBI agents in Los Angeles on Wednesday about Stephen Paddock. She told detectives her boyfriend displayed signs of mental health issues and would moan and scream "Oh, my God" in his sleep.
EPA Police officers block Las Vegas Boulevard in front of the Mandalay Bay Hotel
EPA Las Vegas sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Paddock did not work alone
He had also reportedly been prescribed anti-anxiety medication Valium. But investigators do not believe Paddock's mental health had deteriorated to a point that it triggered his horrific shooting spree. The professional gambler fitted 12 of his weapons with so-called bump-stock devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to operate as if they were fully automatic machine guns, which are otherwise outlawed in the United States. And authorities said his ability to fire hundreds of rounds per minute for 10 minutes from a 32nd-floor hotel suite was a major factor in the high casualty count.