Las Vegas shooting: Stephen Paddock set up cameras around hotel room while girlfriend is 'person of interest' - as it happened
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Your support makes all the difference.At least 59 people were killed and 527 injured when a gunman rained bullets on crowds at a Las Vegas music festival.
A day on from the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, police are desperately seeking to understand what drove Stephen Paddock to discharge "clip after clip" into the 22,000 revellers at the Route 91 Harvest festival.
The 64-year-old "lone wolf" attacker, equipped with at least 23 weapons and two tripods, fired rifles out of two different windows from his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel before killing himself as police stormed his hideout.
Another 19 guns were found at a property occupied by Paddock about 80 miles away in Mesquite, Nevada.
Officials said he had altered those legally purchased weapons to operate on automatic before he began his deadly spree at around 10:08pm on Sunday.
Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said he was unable to speculate as to his motive, saying: "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath."
Authorities believe Paddock acted alone and dismissed suggestions he had any links to international terror, despite claims from Isis's news agency Amaq that he converted to Islam months before the shooting.
Video posted on social media appeared to show the moment the gunfire broke out as country star Jason Aldean performed, sparking mass chaos and scattering the crowd.
The massacre has reignited an outpouring of anger over the nation's lax gun ownership laws, which are protected by the second amendment.
As the nation was left reeling from the massacre, carried out in one of the world’s most iconic cities, Donald Trump sought to offer solace and condolence, first on Twitter and later in a sombre, televised address.
“In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has,” he said
Speaking on Tuesday morning, the President described the killer as a "sick, demented man".
In February, Mr Trump signed a resolution blocking an Obama-era rule that would have prevented an estimated 75,000 people with mental disorders from buying guns.
The rule was part of former President Barack Obama's push to strengthen the federal background check system following the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut shooting – the deadliest school shooting in US history.
Here's an update on what we know so far:
- At least 59 people were killed and 527 injured in the shooting
- 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, of Nevada, has been identified as the gunman
- Police are grappling to find a motive for the deadliest shooting in US history
- They do not believe he has links to any international terror organisation and have described him as a "lone wolf"
- Despite this Isis is still claiming responsibility for the attack, despite widespread scepticism
- Authorities discovered an arsenal of 23 weapons in his Mandalay Bay hotel room, from where he launched the assault
- A further 19 guns were found at a property in Mesquite, Nevada
- His family and neighbours have expressed their shock and said there were no warning signs
- Donald Trump said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday and described the shooting as an "act of pure evil"
- The massacre has reignited a fierce debate on the nation's lax gun ownership laws
- Theresa May has said it is difficult to understand the US's approach to gun control
- Nearly $3M has been raised for victims of the attack and their families
- Stories of selfless bravery are continuing to emerge from the night including one man who saved 30 people before being shot himself and another who stole a car to transport victims to hospital
Many had wondered how Stephen Paddock managed to fire for so long and so quickly as he rained down bullets for around 15 minutes on a Las Vegas country music festival.
The speed of that shooting led some to suggest that Paddock was using automatic weapons. But automatic rifles are heavily regulated and difficult to buy in the US.
Instead, he used a "bump stock" on at least two of the weapons, officials said. That legal trick is an attachment for the weapon that technically allows it to count as semi-automatic, despite the fact that it can be used to fire like an automatic rifle.
Donald Trump is awake and offering some more words on the attack, following his early morning "God Bless America" tweet. The President has described the gunman in the Las Vegas concert shooting as "a sick man, a demented man" and said authorities were "looking into him"
"We'll be talking about gun laws as times goes by," he told reporters at the White House.
Asked if the shooting was an act of domestic terrorism, he added: "He was a sick man, a demented man. Lot of problems, I guess, and we're looking into him very, very seriously."
A US talk show host and firearms rights campaigner has claimed "no amount of new gun control could have stopped" the shooting.
Mark Walters compared calling for greater restrictions on firearms ownership in the wake of the massacre to "dancing in the blood of victims".
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