Daily Mail/Business Insider
Authorities say the piece of paper found in the hotel room of the Las Vegas gunman contained calculations that helped him target the crowd of concertgoers more precisely.
Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old retired accountant, killed 58 people and injured hundreds when he opened fire on a country music festival last weekend from his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, before taking his own life.
After photos emerged of Paddock’s room, speculation abounded about a small piece of paper seen lying on a table in the room and whether it contained an explanation for the massacre.
Three of the police officers who closed in on Paddock’s room as he turned his gun on himself told “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker that they found the note near one of the windows Paddock had smashed out.
“I could see on it he had written the distance, the elevation he was on, the drop of what his bullet was gonna be for the crowd,” Officer Dave Newton said in the interview, which airs Sunday. “So he had that written down and figured out so he would know where to shoot to hit his targets from there.”
Law enforcement sources have similarly confirmed to CNN and the Associated Press that the paper contained a series of numbers used to assist Paddock in targeting his victims.
Investigators remain clueless as to Paddock’s motive for the attack. Undersheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told media on Friday that authorities have exhausted more than 1,000 leads and are exploring every aspect of Paddock’s life from birth to death, but answers remain elusive.
Police are now imploring the public to share any knowledge they may have on Paddock. They will soon place billboards around Las Vegas that read, “If you know something, say something,” with the number 1-800-225-5324 (or 1-800-CALL-FBI) for tips.
“It’s really imperative that the listening public have a very clear understanding that there are still a number of people out there that know that something looked out of place,” McMahill said. “Someone may have been acting suspiciously that night, or in the years prior, the months prior. Somebody that may have seen something or know something.”
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