Las Vegas Massacre

October 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire on a concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada.

There were over 22,000 attendees on that day of the concert.

58 people died and 851 were injured. 

The incident is the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in the United States.

64-year-old Stephen Paddock, fired more than 1,100 rounds from his suite on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel, between 10:05 and 10:15 p.m.

He was found dead, an hour later, in his hotel room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

Before we get into the story.....

Stephen Paddock

He was born in Clinton, Iowa, but  grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and the Sun Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles.

His father, Benjamin was a bank robber who was arrested in 1960 when Stephen was seven years old.

Benjamin was later convicted and escaped prison in 1969. 

He then appeared on FBI's Most Wanted list.

He worked as a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, an Internal Revenue Service agent and then a federal auditor focusing on defense contractors.
Then he worked an internal auditor for a company that later merged to form Lockheed Martin.
He owned personal property in areas including Panorama City, Cerritos, and North Hollywood and two apartment buildings in Hawthorne, California.
In addition, he owned an apartment complex in Mesquite, Texas, which he sold in 2012.

Relatives said Paddock was worth at least US$2 million when he sold off the real-estate business.

He was a high-stakes gambler.

His reported gambling winnings were substantial.

He was sometimes seen in high-limit rooms.

He usually gambled after dark and slept during the day.

He lost a significant amount of his wealth over the previous two years,but had paid off all gambling debts before the shooting.

Stephen was twice divorced, had a long-term girlfriend, and had no known children.

He was living 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada.

Before the shooting....

Paddock reportedly smelled of alcohol and was despondent.

He was reported to have filled prescriptions for the highest dose of 50 tablets 10-milligrams of Valium in June 2017.
The effects of the drug can be magnified by alcohol.

His gun purchases were significantly high between October 2016 and September 28, 2017. 

He purchased over 55 firearms and accessories.

Two weeks before the attack, his girlfriend went to her native Philippines after he had bought her a surprise airline ticket.

Later he wired her $100,000 to buy a house there.

September 28,2017, he was recorded by a home surveillance system driving alone to an area for target practice located near his home.

He reportedly was a conspiracy theorist.

He told a friend that "sometimes, sacrifices have to be made" in order to encourage the American public to arm themselves.

He was researching other events since May 2017.

He may have considered attacking them.

He had reserved a room overlooking the August 2017 Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, but did not use it.

September 17, Paddock stayed at The Ogden in Downtown Las Vegas, which overlooked the open-air Life Is Beautiful festival.

His internet search from mid-September included "swat weapons", "ballistics chart 308", "SWAT Las Vegas", and "do police use explosives".

The Shooting....

Stephen Paddock arrived at the Mandalay Bay on September 25, 2017. 

He was booked into Room 32-135 on the 32nd floor.

Using his girlfriend's name, also checked into the directly-connected Room 32-134. 

Both suites overlook the site of the concert at Las Vegas Village.

Between September 25 and October 1, he stockpiled an arsenal of weapons, often with the help of hotel bellhops through the service elevator.

Cell phone records  show that he also made multiple visits to his home in Mesquite. 

The day before the shooting, he placed "Do not disturb" signs on the doors of both rooms.

He spent much of his time before the shooting, gambling at the Mandalay Bay.

October 1, 2017 was the third and final night of the festival. 

Paddock used a hammer to break all the windows in his suits.

Just before 10:00 p.m., hotel security guard Jesus Campos was sent to the 32nd floor to investigate an open-door alert.

He attempted to open a door that provided immediate access to the floor in vain.

After Campos entered the floor, he discovered an L-shaped bracket screwed into the door and door frame.

After reporting the discovery to dispatch that is when the shooting began.

Country music singer Jason Aldean was giving the closing performance.
Campos heard the sound of rapid drilling coming from Room 32-135 and went to investigate. 

At 10:05, he was hit in the right thigh by one of about 35 bullets that Paddock fired through the door of his suite. 

Campos took cover in the alcove between Rooms 32-122 and 32-124.

He immediately informed the hotel by radio and cellphone that he had been shot.

A maintenance worker Stephen Schuck was on the same floor to fix the door that Campos had reported as being barricaded. 

Campos, encountered Schuck and told him to take cover. 

Schuck contacted hotel dispatchers over his radio, and told them to call the police.

Many people in the crowd initially mistook the gunfire for fireworks.

Asecurity fence hindered concertgoers from fleeing the 15-acre concrete lot.

Paddock also fired eight bullets at a large jet fuel tank at McCarran International Airport 2,000 feet away.
Two of those bullets made contact with the exterior of the tank.
During the shooting, police officers were initially confused where the shots were coming from.
There were also multiple reports of additional shooters at other hotels on the Strip.
At 10:12 p.m., two officers on the 31st floor reported the sounds of gunfire on the floor above them. 
Officers arrived on the 32nd floor at 10:17 p.m.
Between 10:26 and 10:30 p.m., eight additional officers arrived at the 32nd floor.
Officers manually breached through the door Paddock had screwed shut.
When the gunfire had ceased, the police moved systematically down the hallway.
10:55 p.m., the officers finished evacuating guests. 
11:20 p.m., police breached Paddocks room with explosives.
Paddock was dead on the floor, he had shot himself in the head.

After

Investigators found hidden surveillance cameras that were placed inside and outside the hotel room.
They also found  a "bulletproof vest" and breathing apparatus.
There have been several changes in the official account and timeline of Paddock's shooting of hotel security guard Campos.

The investigation remains ongoing.

The YourNewsWire spread information about a second gunman who was shooting from the fourth floor of the hotel.
Sputnik, a Russian government news agency, claimed the FBI had linked the shooter to a terrorist group. 
The stories were later removed from Sputnik with an apology.
The terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) claimed that Paddock was their "soldier".  
Alex Jones stated that "Vegas is as phony as a three dollar bill or as Obama's birth certificate."

Some people think that the government was involved and that this was all for tighter gun control laws.

What do you think about this terrible tragedy?

I think he probably did this by himself.

I think that the hotel shouldn't let their customers use the service elevator. 
Then maybe some one would have noticed all the excessive baggage he brought.

Also, maybe i am not understanding things, but the police and the hotel security's statements keep changing.
And there is a video of them waiting in the hall until the shooting stopped.
I applaud police and other that put their lives on the line everyday.
I really appreciate them.
However, in the video, it looks like they are just waiting because they are scared.
If it was because they were scared, then they should get in another line of work.
It is possible, if they wouldn't have waited, lives could have been spared. 

HERE IS THE VIDEO OF THEM WAITING.

HERE IS ANOTHER ONE