Reports are now saying along with the arsenal of firearms he had an arsenal of anti-depressants, anti-anxiety medicine and vallium. Madsircool’s messageboard psychoanalysis notwithstanding, he was either under the care of a psychiatrist or abusing psychotropic drugs without a prescription. His final weeks are now being described as a ‘descent into madness’ that included extreme weight loss, slovenly dress and appearance, erratic behavior, etc.
That seems to be pretty much it. They identified the general area of the room very quickly from the muzzle flashes visible for 500 yards, narrowed it down to a specific room by the smoke detector, and were met by gunfire and then silence as they approached the door. This all happened within 12 minutes of the first shot being fired. As long as he wasn’t shooting they waited to enter in the safest way possible. He apparently shot himself right after shooting through the door.
Tannerite is used in exploding targets that shooting enthusiasts like to hear go boom when they hit it. If that is all he had chances are he wasn’t trying to make bombs with it as he clearly had access to all kinds of things that go boom. But the investigation is looking into the possibility that he originally planned to attack the ‘life is beautiful’ festival earlier in the week at the Ogden hotel - a much bigger crowd than the one he finally attacked. This may have been a plan B after that one fell through for whatever reason.
I read an account of one of the guy’s neighbors saying he was really a horrible person, that they never had anything but bad interactions in the few times when they spoke. And a Starbucks employee said she would cringe whenever he and his gf came in because he would always berate her loudly.
I am particularly impressed with the work of Sheriff Joseph Lombardo. Throughout the lengthy and chaotic ordeal he managed to keep the public informed with regular informative briefings, and conveyed an air of competence and control that is refreshing.
It increases the effective range. For an extreme example, imagine shooting straight down. I have no idea how high up his room is, but if it’s 10ft per floor and if the lobby/casino portion is an extra 20, that’s about 110m, right? The link provided up thread stated the distance from his room to the crowd was 1200ft. Call it 400m. That turns in to about a 350-380m shot in the sights. Not far at all for an area target like a crowd of people. Not exceptionally far for aimed shots either, especially with no wind.
Good chance of getting banned at this point, I’d say.
It is also the legally correct term, as it’s the word used by the ATF to describe it and regulate it. I’ve purchased a couple silencers. There are two forms to be completed to do this. Both forms refer to the device as a “silencer”. Neither form uses the word “suppressor”. The ATF Form 4 can be found here: https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/form/form-4-application-tax-paid-transfer-and-registration-firearm-atf-form-53204/download
Notice under definitions, it mentions a “muffler or silencer”. On the Form 4473, it mentions only “silencer” when referring to these devices. https://www.atf.gov/file/61446/download
The only thing worse than an obnoxious pedant is one who is not only obnoxious and pedantic, but wrong as well.
Local news just said that 12 of his guns in the hotel room had “bump stocks.” Had a local gun dealer showing one off, said that they aren’t usually popular because they decrease accuracy, but now are “selling like hotcakes.”
Yeah, if you want people to go out and buy more of a particular gun or accessory, just convince some politicians start talking about how we should ban it. Instant sales spike.
Is it that or is it simply the umpteen jillion views this week of the couple of bump-stock youtubes out there that were languishing in total obscurity until a few days ago?
He was shooting fish in a barrel. It didn’t take a lot of concentration to shoot 600 people and he could monitor the hall while swapping out magazines. Once the crowd scattered/dispersed his position was known so the area would have been empty.
The shooter’s girlfriend appears to be a fine specimen. She was married to two men at the same time (possibly because she just neglected to divorce the first one, to whom she was still married whilst dallying with Paddock) and used two different social security numbers that differed in reported age by 8 years.
I watched the press briefing last night and the sherif said there was evidence of an escape plan ( he declined to say what that evidence was) and that they are working under the assumption that he had help. I think this is mostly based on the complexity and extent of the preparation.
I think the use of it in the shooting was the advertisement that got people to go out and buy it. Paddock was an excellent salesman for that particular product.
So now report are coming out that Paddock may have booked tickets to the hotel overlooking Lollapalooza in Chicago. Still unconfirmed, but if he was planning on shooting, I wonder if he decided it wasn’t as good of a target. While the entire festival grounds are technically right across the street, where the actual concerts are is 400 yards away and surrounded by trees. The hotel is also only 18 stories high and doesn’t have the giant windows like Mandalay Bay.
Still, if there had been a shooting, it may have been a lot worse. A crowd five times the size and a lake on one side so there’s a lot less room to run.