Las Vegas Shooting: New report says gunman Stephen Paddock showed ‘diminished mental capacity;’ authorities never found missing hard drive

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Chief Joseph Lombardo announced in a press conference on Friday that police have completed their criminal investigation into the deadly Las Vegas shooting on October 1, which killed 58 people and injured hundreds more.

Lombardo highlighted the conclusions in the report; noting that while the criminal investigation had been completed, the report issued on Friday could be amended in the future if new information becomes available.

He said that investigators had not been able to conclusively determine gunman Stephen Paddock’s motives for the massacre, saying only that police believe a combination of factors including diminished wealth and possible mental health issues were behind the carefully planned shooting.

The report, issued on the police department’s website after the conference, is intended to “provide the public with the clearest picture possible of the events leading up to October 1 as well as motive,” Lombardo said.

But “what we have not been able to definitively answer is the why.”

By all accounts Stephen Paddock was an unremarkable man …. [he showed] signs of a troubled mind but no troubling behavior that would trigger a call to law enforcement.”

Lombardo said the report includes interviews with doctors and people who knew Paddock that indicate the gunman had “diminished mental capacity” prior to the attack.

The police chief also said that the investigation found no evidence of a second gunman or any affiliations Paddock might have had with extremist groups.

A laptop found in Paddock’s hotel suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino was missing its hard drive, and authorities were never able to locate it.

Investigators have “No idea where the hard drive is or when it was removed,” Lombardo said. It “could have been years [before] or close proximity to the shooting.”

Lombardo refused to comment about whether the shooting may have been preventable if Mandalay Bay had better security measures or response plans, and said that Mandalay Bay security was not addressed in the criminal investigative report.

Asked by a reporter if Las Vegas citizens should be concerned about a possible future attack, Lombardo noted that heightened security measures were being taken at upcoming music festivals in Las Vegas and elsewhere in the U.S.

“Absolutely it could happen again,” Lombardo said. “By the grace of God it doesn’t.”

 

[Feature image: LVMPD Police Chief Joseph Lombardo/AP Photo/John Locher]