Las Vegas gunman left cryptic numeric note in room
CHICAGO -- Investigators in Las Vegas are still searching Route 91 Harvest Festival gunman Stephen Paddock's past for any clue as to why he plotted to kill 58 people at last weekend's outdoor country music concert. Sounding frustrated at an afternoon briefing, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Undersheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters investigators have found nothing in Paddock's personal life, political beliefs or financial situation to identify a motive behind the attack.
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"In the past, terror attacks or mass murder motive was made very clear by a note that was left, by a social media post, by a telephone call that was made, by investigators mining computer data," said Undersheriff McMahill.
The LVMPD second-in-command continued saying, "Today, in our investigation, we don't have any of that uncovered. I wish we did. We will and are continuing to investigate with great tenacity and hope to arrive at an answer."
Police say definitively that Paddock had no connection to ISIS and that they're searching "every aspect" of the gunman's background from "birth to death" as they try to piece together what happened. Investigators know where Paddock's guns came from, when he checked into the Mandalay Bay and have a specific timeline of the event stretching from when he began firing until the second they found him dead.
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Investigators are also trying to determine the meaning of a series of numbers found on a piece of paper left in the shooter's room. They confirm that they found the cryptic note but that they have no idea "what those numbers are or mean." After searching hours of video from hotel security cameras, they haven't seen the shooter with anyone else and they believe no one else had used his room key. Now, the investigation is seeking to determine whether anyone else may have known about Paddock's plans for this incident in advance by putting up billboards in Las Vegas, imploring people to come forward with any detail about Paddock they think might be relevant to the investigation.
Inside Paddock's valet-parked car, there were 50 pounds of a chemical compound known as Tannerite - a popular target material for shooters that explodes when hit by a bullet. While it can also be used to improvise an explosive device, Las Vegas investigators say Friday that the Tannerite found in Paddock's car did not resemble an IED.
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