More Questions After FBI Releases Vegas Shooting Files

Still no hint at Stephen Paddock's motive
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 13, 2018 1:43 PM CST
FBI Releases 315 Pages of Documents in Vegas Shooting
This Oct. 2, 2017 file photo shows police tape blocking off the home of Stephen Paddock in Mesquite, Nev.   (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)

The FBI unsealed 315 pages of search warrant affidavits related to the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history on Friday, the AP reports. But the documents still don't answer the big question: Why did Stephen Paddock kill 58 people and wound more than 500 others from his Las Vegas hotel room window? According to CNN, the documents do give a peek at what investigators knew about the case and believed about Paddock's actions at the time the search warrants were filed. One conclusion, as per the New York Times: "Paddock planned the attack meticulously and took many methodical steps to avoid detection of his plot and to thwart the eventual law enforcement investigation that would follow."

The documents also include messages about buying and selling weapons sent between two email accounts that both appear to be controlled by Paddock. "Try an ar before u buy. We have huge selection. Located in the las vegas area," reads one message. Another states, "For a thrill try out bumpfire ar's with 100 round magazine." It's unclear why Paddock would have been sending such messages to himself, and investigators at the time were interested in finding out if a second person was in control of one of the accounts. The documents also detail the FBI's initial interest in Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who deleted her Facebook account in the hours following the attack and admitted her fingerprints may be found on some of the ammunition used in the attack. (More Stephen Paddock stories.)

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