A gunman opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday evening, killing at least 59 people and injuring more than 500 near the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino. Here is what we know:
Who was the shooter?
Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old resident of Mesquite, Nev., was named by police as the shooter. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo later said Paddock killed himself as police broke into his room at the Mandalay Bay, which he was believed to have occupied since Sept. 28. “We are completely dumbfounded,” said Eric Paddock,a brother who lives in central Florida. Later, it was revealed that the brothers' deceased father was a bank robber who had been on the FBI's most-wanted list in the 1960s.
Did the shooter have any accomplices?
"Right now, we believe it's a sole actor, a lone-wolf-type actor," said Lombardo, adding that a motive for the shooting had yet to be determined. The sheriff also said police had questioned a "person of interest," Marilou Danley, the suspect's roommate, and determined she was not involved in the shooting. Later, Lombardo said Danley is out of the country and that authorities would speak further with her when she returned to the U.S. A person connected to her said she is in the Philippines. She also was reported to have been in Japan.
Was this an act of terrorism?
At a press conference, Aaron Rouse, chief of the FBI’s Las Vegas office, said the agency had found "no connection" between Paddock and terror organizations. Earlier, Sheriff Lombardo described Paddock as "a distraught person" intent on causing mass casualties. The Islamic State on Monday claimed responsibility, saying that the perpetrator was “a soldier” who had converted to Islam months ago. However, the group, which often claims attacks by individuals inspired by its message but with no known links to the group, provided no evidence to support its assertion.
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