FBI Finally Drops Possible Motive For Vegas Shooting … Do You Buy It?
Five years and six months later, the FBI has finally draw a conclusion about the motive behind the Las Vegas shooting
On October 1, 2017, the world watched in horror as a killer from an upper room of a Las Vegas hotel shot a seemingly-endless stream of gunfire down on an unsuspecting crowd far below.
Stephen Paddock, 64, was found dead in his hotel room on the 32nd floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel. He had fired some 1000 rounds into the crowd, killing 60 people and wounding at least 413 attendees of the Harvest Music festival.
There were many unanswered questions. For years, the FBI had been silent about what really happened that day.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
But now, 5 years and six months after the fact, and on the very day that the guy who famously wore the buffalo horns on J6 was released from prison for events that happened on 2021, the FBI has finally released a report.
The speculation (and tha’s all we have, even with this report) is that Paddock was upset at casinos because high-roller gamblers no longer got the red carpet treatment. That and he (a professional gambler) lost $38k over a span of two days.
But that doesn’t easily bridge the logic gap between ‘felt slighted by a casino’ to raining 1000 rounds of lead on an unsuspecting music festival for the largest slaughter of its kind in US history.
One gambler told the FBI that Paddock, who opened fire on concertgoers in a 10-minute long rampage, was “very upset at the way casinos were treating him and other high rollers.” Names, including the gambler’s, were redacted in the FBI records.
The stress could “easily be what caused Paddock to ‘snap,’” the gambler speculated, noting that casinos had reduced the number of perks they gave to VIP customers in the years leading up to the shooting. –ReviewJournal
Another report highlighted this part of the FBI findings:
The agency found no “single or clear motivating factor” to explain why Stephen Paddock carried out the attack from his suite in a high-rise casino hotel. The 64-year-old fatally shot himself as police closed in.
“It wasn’t about MGM, Mandalay Bay or a specific casino or venue,” Aaron Rouse, the agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas office, told The Associated Press. “It was all about doing the maximum amount of damage and him obtaining some form of infamy.” — NBCNews
Some news sources have rushed to accept this at face value. But a local news source added the reaction and response of Metropolitan police.
The lead investigator of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas criticized the FBI on Thursday after the federal agency released new documents about the gunman’s final days.
Kelly McMahill, a retired deputy chief, said it was “unprofessional” for the FBI to publish the new information without first notifying the Metropolitan Police Department.
“It will be very damaging to the 22,000 people that attended the concert, the victims of the family members that were lost and the survivors,” said McMahill, who is married to Sheriff Kevin McMahill. “There is still no known motive five years later, and LVMPD would never hide a potential motive from any of our victims.” –ReviewJournal
The fact that he was a high-roller gave him privileges the rest of us wouldn’t have enjoyed — including use of the service elevator while he was booked for his final stay at the Mandalay Bay.
Five and a half years later, and all we’ve got from our crack team of experts is that Paddock worked alone and he was upset?
As for the infamy angle, it would be a case of the apple not falling far from the tree.
He was an apolitical, non-religious loner who would gamble tens of thousands at a shot on video poker. But his father may have played a role in shaping Stephen Paddock’s story.
A judge sentenced Benjamin Hoskins Paddock to 20 years in prison on Jan. 5, 1961. Nearly eight years later, on Dec. 31, 1968, the convicted bank robber escaped the Federal Correctional Institution in La Tuna, Texas, according to a Tucson Daily Citizen archive.
After his escape, the FBI named Benjamin Hoskins Paddock one of their “10 most wanted criminals,” and warned that he was a “diagnosed psychopath” with suicidal tenancies. The warrant said Benjamin Hoskins Paddock carried a firearm and was considered “armed and dangerous.”
“Paddock is known as ‘Chrome Dome’ because of a practice of completely shaving his head,” the FBI said. “The agency reported he is an avid bridge player and smokes both cigars and cigarettes. They said he eats expensive steak dinners and is a frequent gambler,” a June 11, 1969, article by the Arizona Republic read. — NBC
Five years later, what do our readers think?
Sources Cited:
pretty lame…this guy practiced this elsewhere…and it almost went down someplace else…..