The gunman behind Sunday night's mass shooting in Las Vegas planned to flee, and he may have had help with planning the massacre, officials suspect.
Stephen Paddock was "living a secret life, much of which would never be fully understood", Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters.
The gunman's girlfriend said she had no idea what he was plotting.
Paddock's motive for killing 58 people in the largest mass shooting in modern US history remains unclear.
Police found the 64-year-old former accountant dead in a room on the 32nd floor of a hotel after he sprayed bullets on concert-goers below, injuring hundreds.
He apparently turned one of his many guns on himself as police closed in.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Clark County Sheriff Lombardo was asked if he saw evidence that Paddock had planned to escape after the attack.
The sheriff said "yes". Asked what it was, he said: "I can't tell you."
Sheriff Lombardo was asked by a reporter if he thought Paddock had carried out the attack alone.
"You've got to make the assumption he had to have some help at some point," the sheriff replied.
"Maybe he's a super guy, maybe he was working out all this on his own, but it would be hard for me to believe that."
The possibility that Paddock could have had an accomplice is a twist in the investigation.
In the aftermath of the shooting officials described him as "a lone wolf" and said he was "solely responsible for this heinous act".
The FBI's Aaron Rouse said no link to terrorism had been found so far, but they would not discard the possibility.
Sheriff Lombardo also revealed:
=>Paddock had been gambling just hours before he began shooting
=>He had booked into an apartment at the high-rise Ogden in downtown Las Vegas a week earlier during a different open-air festival where acts including Muse, Lorde, Chance the Rapper and Blink-182 were due to play
=>A hotel security guard who led police to Paddock's room was shot - there were 200 rounds of ammunition in the corridor - but continued to help until he was ordered to seek medical attention
The sheriff said more than 100 investigators had been combing through the Paddock's life "to produce a profile of someone I would call disturbed and dangerous".
Paddock, he said, was "a man who spent decades acquiring guns and ammo".
The gunman had around 23 weapons with him in the room, many of which were modified to make them shoot more quickly.
Police found explosives in his car at the hotel, along with about 1,600 rounds of ammunition.
The bulk of Paddock's weaponry was bought in the last year, but Sheriff Lombardo said it was not clear what motivated him to start buying so much equipment.
"Anything that would indicate this individual's trigger point and that would cause him to do such harm, we haven't understood it yet," he said.
Paddock had set up cameras both inside and outside the suite to see anyone approaching the room, police said.
What did Paddock's girlfriend say?
Marilou Danley, who was out of the country at the time of the shooting, has been described by US authorities as a "person of interest".
She voluntarily flew back to Los Angeles from the Philippines on Tuesday night to speak to the FBI.
Two weeks ago, she said Paddock surprised her with a plane ticket to visit her family in the South East Asian country.
Paddock "never said anything to me or took any action" which she understood as a warning of what was to come, she said in a statement read by her lawyer.
Ms Danley added: "I loved him and hoped for a quiet future together." ·
Stephen Paddock was "living a secret life, much of which would never be fully understood", Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters.
The gunman's girlfriend said she had no idea what he was plotting.
Paddock's motive for killing 58 people in the largest mass shooting in modern US history remains unclear.
Police found the 64-year-old former accountant dead in a room on the 32nd floor of a hotel after he sprayed bullets on concert-goers below, injuring hundreds.
He apparently turned one of his many guns on himself as police closed in.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Clark County Sheriff Lombardo was asked if he saw evidence that Paddock had planned to escape after the attack.
The sheriff said "yes". Asked what it was, he said: "I can't tell you."
Sheriff Lombardo was asked by a reporter if he thought Paddock had carried out the attack alone.
 |
| Suspected gunman Stephen Paddock - undated image |
"You've got to make the assumption he had to have some help at some point," the sheriff replied.
"Maybe he's a super guy, maybe he was working out all this on his own, but it would be hard for me to believe that."
The possibility that Paddock could have had an accomplice is a twist in the investigation.
In the aftermath of the shooting officials described him as "a lone wolf" and said he was "solely responsible for this heinous act".
The FBI's Aaron Rouse said no link to terrorism had been found so far, but they would not discard the possibility.
Sheriff Lombardo also revealed:
=>Paddock had been gambling just hours before he began shooting
=>He had booked into an apartment at the high-rise Ogden in downtown Las Vegas a week earlier during a different open-air festival where acts including Muse, Lorde, Chance the Rapper and Blink-182 were due to play
=>A hotel security guard who led police to Paddock's room was shot - there were 200 rounds of ammunition in the corridor - but continued to help until he was ordered to seek medical attention
The sheriff said more than 100 investigators had been combing through the Paddock's life "to produce a profile of someone I would call disturbed and dangerous".
Paddock, he said, was "a man who spent decades acquiring guns and ammo".
The gunman had around 23 weapons with him in the room, many of which were modified to make them shoot more quickly.
Police found explosives in his car at the hotel, along with about 1,600 rounds of ammunition.
The bulk of Paddock's weaponry was bought in the last year, but Sheriff Lombardo said it was not clear what motivated him to start buying so much equipment.
"Anything that would indicate this individual's trigger point and that would cause him to do such harm, we haven't understood it yet," he said.
Paddock had set up cameras both inside and outside the suite to see anyone approaching the room, police said.
What did Paddock's girlfriend say?
Marilou Danley, who was out of the country at the time of the shooting, has been described by US authorities as a "person of interest".
She voluntarily flew back to Los Angeles from the Philippines on Tuesday night to speak to the FBI.
Two weeks ago, she said Paddock surprised her with a plane ticket to visit her family in the South East Asian country.
Paddock "never said anything to me or took any action" which she understood as a warning of what was to come, she said in a statement read by her lawyer.
Ms Danley added: "I loved him and hoped for a quiet future together." ·
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