LAS VEGAS (AP) – The Latest on the mass shooting in Las Vegas (all times local):
2:10 p.m.
A U.S. official says investigators are looking into the possibility the Las Vegas shooter planned additional attacks, including a car bombing.
Gareth Wilkinson stands near a makeshift memorial in honor of the victims of a mass shooting Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
The official stressed the information was preliminary and investigators haven’t uncovered any solid evidence yet.
The official, who was briefed Thursday by federal law enforcement officials, wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo says it appeared Stephen Paddock had planned to survive Sunday’s attack and had an escape plan.
Lombardo said Paddock had 1,600 rounds of ammunition in his car, along with fertilizer that can be used to make explosives and 50 pounds of Tannerite, an explosive substance.
Paddock killed himself after shooting into a concert crowd, killing 58 and wounding nearly 500.
– Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo
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12:20 p.m.
Authorities say they are beefing up security for Sunday’s Chicago Marathon following reports the Las Vegas shooter booked a Chicago hotel room during the weekend of a major music festival held across the street.
Chicago Police Bureau of Organized Crime Chief Anthony Riccio said Thursday that there would be “significantly” more undercover officers working the marathon than in years past.
A law enforcement official says Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock booked a room at Chicago’s downtown Blackstone Hotel in August.
A spokeswoman for the Blackstone Hotel, Emmy Carragher, says a person with the name Stephen Paddock reserved a room but never checked in.
The hotel overlooks Grant Park where the Lollapalooza festival is held each year and is attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
Riccio says the undercover officers assigned to the marathon “are going to be intermingling with the crowd, they’re going to be around runners, they’re going to be at the finish line, they’re going to be at the start line.”
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10:50 a.m.
A Chicago hotel where a law enforcement official says Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock booked a room in August during a music festival says no one by that name stayed at the hotel.
A spokeswoman for the Blackstone Hotel in a brief written statement Thursday did not address whether Paddock reserved a room but never checked in.
Paddock opened fire Sunday on a country music concert from a Las Vegas hotel room and killed 58 people.
The downtown Chicago hotel overlooks Grant Park where the Lollapalooza festival is held each year. Hundreds of thousands of people attend. The hotel spokeswoman, Emmy Carragher, said in the emailed statement that the hotel “is cooperating with the authorities.”
A law enforcement official said earlier Thursday that Paddock had booked a room at the Blackstone Hotel. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke only on condition of anonymity after being briefed on the investigation.
Paddock’s booking at the hotel was first reported by TMZ.
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10:20 a.m.
Boston’s police commissioner says he will contact federal investigators about a report that the Las Vegas shooter researched locations in Boston.
But William Evans said Thursday he could not confirm the report and had not been briefed on the matter.
A law enforcement official says Stephen Paddock booked a room at a Chicago hotel that overlooked a park where a music festival was held in August, but there’s no indication he went there.
NBC News reported that Paddock also researched Boston.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker also says he’s aware of the reports but could not discuss them because of the ongoing investigation into the mass shooting.
Baker adds that police officials based in Boston are “fully plugged in” to the investigation and are in contact with Las Vegas authorities.
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7:53 a.m.
A full two months before he opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas from a 32nd-floor room of a hotel and killed 58 people, Stephen Paddock booked a room at a Chicago hotel that overlooks a park where a major music festival was held that weekend, a law enforcement official said Thursday.
The official said that law enforcement found no evidence that Paddock ever came to Chicago during the weekend of Lollapalooza – a music festival that attracts hundreds of thousands of people. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation of Paddock’s movements, spoke only on condition of anonymity after being briefed on the investigation.
The Blackstone Hotel, where Paddock made the reservations, overlooks the main stage and other stages at Grant Park where the music festival is held every year.
Paddock’s booking of the hotel room, first reported by TMZ, comes as investigators, trying to determine a motive for the Las Vegas shooting, have been trying to track Paddock’s movements in the days before he opened fire from the Mandalay Bay casino resort on Sunday night.
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By Associated Press writer Don Babwin in Chicago
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12:07 a.m.
Those seeking to know the motive of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock have had little more to chase than hints and shadows.
Unlike many other mass killers, Paddock led such a private life that no one seemed to know him well, and those who did had no sense he was capable of gunning down 58 people and injuring hundreds more at a country music festival before killing himself.
FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said he was surprised Paddock had provided so few clues, and that has proved challenging.
Clark County Sheriff did share on Wednesday night said Paddock had rented an apartment in another high-rise above another music festival a week earlier, though he could not say why.
And he said he felt it was unlikely Paddock could have pulled off the elaborate plan alone, though investigators have no idea who may have helped him.
Friends Danny Savage, left, and Susan Dozer pose for photos with Elvis impersonator Mark Edward Rumpler in front of the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, in Las Vegas. Flowers and signs were left at the sign to remember the victims of a mass shooting. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo holds a media briefing at Metro Police headquarters in Las Vegas Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Investigators trying to figure out the Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock’s state of mind have so far been stymied by the secret life he appeared to lead before the attack on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
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