Well, I’m just guessing at things but it would probably accomplish both. Ppl were running past those tanks to get to the hangers/runways weren’t they? It could be he wasn’t shooting the tanks as much as just shooting as many people as possible. But there had to be a reason a boatload of tannerite was in the car besides as an air freshener.
I think you’re right. One report goes as far as to theorize that the sole reason for the east-facing firing position was for access to the aviation fuel tanks. If so this may even go towards answering your question about the location of the majority of his firearms. By all accounts he is a very calculating man.
He is very likely to have worked through numerous sequential scenarios in his mind perhaps even on paper or on computer prior to establish a master plan which he probably would have had in hand long before he began even preliminary execution.
He would likely have determined exactly where and why he wanted specific weapons and other stock piles.
When the unarmed hotel security guard knocked on his door he apparently executed a MAG dump up to 200 rounds through the door. Other reports indicate that he later became aware of law enforcement in that hallway, perhaps the for man team discussed earlier and Unleashed another barrage down the hallway sending them running. In the photos you see a bipod mounted AR variant on the floor through the breach doorway. Most likely no accident. This weapon was there for perimeter defense in conjunction with his security cameras and advance planning. In some ways these realizations raise significant concerns. As a man who does nothing without specific reason you have to wonder precisely what his plans were for the ammonium nitrate and Tannerite mention in news reports.
Raising another unpleasant possibility. Benzodiazepine is both widely and personally known to be a volatile substance. If the shooters prescription not simply a one-time event and never repeated, this may be all the motive we ever get.