Not Linked with Terroism, What Las Vegas Gunman's Motive?

LAS VEGAS - Police are working to establish the motive behind a mass shooting which left at least 59 people dead and another 527 injured at a Las Vegas concert.

Gunman Stephen Paddock (64) opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel towards an open-air music festival on Sunday evening. Police found 23 guns in his hotel room, as well as firearms and explosives at his Nevada home. But as yet, no clear reason for the killing has emerged.

Investigators have found no link to international terrorism, despite a claim from so-called Islamic State (ISIS). FBI also said it had found "no connection to an international terrorist organisation".

Some investigators have suggested he had a history of mental illness, but there is no confirmation of this. Paddock also had no criminal record and was not known to police.

So, what do we know of the gunman?
Stephen Paddock, a former accountant with a big gambling habit, lived in a community of senior citizens in the small town of Mesquite, north-east of Las Vegas.

He reportedly lived with a woman called Marilou Danley who was out of the country in Japan and did not appear to be involved in the shootings, police said.

Las Vegas Sheriff, Joseph Lombardo said that when police searched the property after the attack, they found 19 "additional firearms, some explosives and several thousand rounds of ammo, along with some electronic devices we're evaluating at this point". Officers also found ammonium nitrate in Paddock's car.

David Famiglietti of the New Frontier Armory told the BBC that Paddock had purchased firearms at his store in North Las Vegas in the spring of this year, meeting all state and federal requirements, including an FBI background check.

"However, the shotgun and rifle Paddock bought would not have been "capable of what we've seen and heard in the video without modification", Famiglietti said.

The fast shooting rate audible in recordings of Sunday night's attack indicates that Paddock may have modified his guns with legal accessories to make them fire at speeds approaching those of automatic weapons.

Who was ex-accountant turned killer?
Despite the large cache of weapons found in the killer's home, his brother, Eric, is struggling to accept that he acted in this way. He said he was "in shock, horrified, completely dumbfounded".

So called ISIS has claimed to be behind the attack, saying Paddock had converted to Islam some months ago. But the group provided no evidence for this and has made unsubstantiated claims in the past.

How did the attack unfold?
According to police, Paddock had booked into the hotel four days earlier, on 28 September, reportedly using some of Ms Danley's identity documents. Sheriff Lombardo said there were 10 suitcases in the suite, which had two rooms.

Hundreds of concert-goers scrambled for cover, flattening themselves against the ground, rushing for the exits or helping others to escape as Paddock sprayed the site from his high vantage point.

"One man had blood all over him and that's when I knew something was seriously wrong. People were running and there was chaos," Mike Thompson from London told the BBC.

Las Vegas city map showing location of hotel from where gunman shot at least 50 people dead at a country music concert, 2 October 2017
Many hotels on the Las Vegas strip close to the scene were placed on police lockdown and parts of Las Vegas Boulevard were shut.