The FBI has officially closed the investigation into the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, AP News is reporting.
On October 1, 2017, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock checked into the Mandalay Bay and rained bullets down on a crowd of people attending an outdoor concert from his hotel room window. Fifty-eight people in total were tragically killed, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history. Paddock eventually died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, taking his motive for the killings to the grave. On Tuesday, January 29, the FBI announced that they could not find a motive after a thorough investigation — and are officially closing the case.
“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, said. “It was all about doing the maximum amount of damage and him obtaining some form of infamy. This report comes as close to understanding the why as we’re ever going to get.”
The report states that Paddock may have been trying to emulate his father, who was a bank robber who was once on the FBI’s most wanted list. Investigators theorize he wanted the same infamy his father had. The FBI also believes that he had always planned on killing himself after carrying out the act. Most of the information stops there, however. He left no manifesto or suicide note, and did not appear to be inspired by any group — or trying to send any kind of message.
FBI can’t determine why gunman Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and injured nearly 900 others in Las Vegas mass shooting https://t.co/7eHQd7E1WV
— CTV News (@CTVNews) January 29, 2019
There may have been some red flags, however, that indicated he could possibly do something like this. Paddock’s brother, Eric, described him as the “king of microaggression.” Eric thinks he may have been just narcissistic and bored enough to meticulously plan the horrific massacre. Then there’s Paddock’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who came under suspicion following the attack. Paddock sent Danley to the Philippines to visit with family two weeks before the attacks took place. He wired her $150,000 while she was there.
Danley recalled Paddock telling her that he was sick and had a “chemical imbalance” that doctors could not cure. He would also often say to Danley, who is Catholic, that “[her] God doesn’t love [him.]” Add all of that to the weapons he stockpiled in the year before the attack, and it paints a very unsettling picture. While many are frustrated that an FBI investigation didn’t bring any answers as to why he did what he did, Rouse pointed out that this was Paddock’s intent.
“He acted alone. He committed a heinous act. He died by his own hand,” Rouse said. “If he wanted to leave a message, he would have left a message. Bottom line is he didn’t want people to know.”