Investigators on Tuesday were trying to determine the mindset of the wealthy, retired accountant whose rampage at a country music concert resulted in the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo said he understood the public was eager to understand Stephen Paddock’s motive for opening fire from his 32nd-floor hotel room with a barrage that left 59 people dead and more than 500 injured. But Fasulo urged patience during the investigation.
“We’re hunting down and tracing down every clue we can get in his background,” he said.
President Trump, as he left Washington Tuesday for a trip to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, briefly addressed the tragedy here and the investigation into Paddock.
"He was a sick man, a demented man with a lot of problems, I guess, and we are looking into him very, very seriously," Trump said. "We are dealing with a very, very sick individual."
The president also said the administration would be "talking about gun laws as time goes by," and he lauded the efforts of Las Vegas law enforcement.
"How quickly the police department was able to get in (to Paddock's hotel room) was very much a miracle," he said. "They've done an amazing job."
Several minutes after the carnage began, officers who blasted into the room found Paddock's body. Eric Paddock, who lives in Florida, says his multimillionaire brother was a big spender at casinos and often received free meals and rooms there. Paddock also said he believed his brother owned a couple guns.
Police found 23 guns, including semiautomatic rifles, in Paddock's room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. They found 19 more at his home in Mesquite, Nev., 80 miles northeast of here.
A federal law enforcement official, who was briefed on the matter but is not authorized to comment publicly, said police also found two tripods positioned at the hotel windows in what appeared to be a fully-equipped sniper’s nest.
Hundreds of rounds of ammunition were among the suspect’s possessions, a cache that could have sustained him in a much longer assault, the official said.
Authorities touted the city’s resilience in the aftermath of the tragedy. Fully stocked blood banks turned away would-be donors by Monday evening. A GoFundMe page collected almost $3 million from 43,000 donors in less than 24 hours.
With hospitals jammed with victims, authorities set up a hotline to report missing people and speed the identification of the dead and wounded. They also opened a “family reunification center” for people to find loved ones.
Pieces of normalcy slowly returned to the iconic Strip. Club promoters hawked 2-for-1 deals, tourists took selfies and police cracked down would-be criminals.
“Do you know how disrespectful it is to come out here and deal drugs the day after 50 people died one block away?’’ a bike cop snapped at a man in handcuffs Monday night. “Can’t you take one day off?’’
It was business as usual in some places — and anything but nearby — on the iconic 4.2-mile strip as this hard-partying city responded to tragedy.
Derek Koerner, who identified himself as a licensed club promoter, said he was encouraged by the sizable crowds — and particularly grateful for the SUV full of men interested in his 2-for-1 deals on strip clubs. (Pay a $40 cover for a two-drink minimum and get into the second strip club for free.)
“There’s more people out here than I thought there’d be,’’ said Koerner, 48. “People seem to be upbeat and have a good energy. People seem to be moving on with their lives.’’