Posted on 10/04/2017 8:00:10 PM PDT by Yardstick
Las Vegas officials held a press conference Wednesday revealing more information and insight into the deadliest shooting in U.S. history.
They believe the shooter, Stephen Paddock intended to escape the hotel room he was shooting from following the massacre and are actively looking for accomplices.
A Texas firearms dealer who had sold handguns to Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock in 2010 and 2011 remembers him coming into the shop last year with girlfriend Marilou Danley.
Paul Peddle, who owns B & S Guns in Garland, Texas, said Wednesday that Paddock didn't buy anything on the most recent visit but asked about a way to modify a gun to make it easier to pull the trigger.
He said Paddock had never purchased any long guns that could have been used in the attack on a crowd of concertgoers on Sunday.
Peddle said Danley didn't show any interest in guns.
He says at the city's Metropolitan Police headquarters that, "Our souls are stricken with grief for every American who lost" someone in Sunday night's shooting. He added, "We will struggle through it together."
(Excerpt) Read more at abc7news.com ...
What boggles my mind now is that he played video poker all Saturday night. For 8 hours. Who in their right mind would do that, sleep, and get up and do this ?
“Intention was to blow up the fuel tanks.”
Which is oddly out of place given everything else appears very well planned out.
“Jet fuel is kerosene. AFAIK, it burns but doesn’t explode. Maybe he figured a jet of burning fuel could create a lake of fire, incinerating thousands. “
No way that fuel spreads to the concert crowd. It was meant as a diversion, if it happened. Again. He’s supposed to have been a pilot, he would have known the limitations of relevant fuel types.
Actually, careful analysis of bullets themselves in the tank should tell. That science is better than you may think. (A bullet would deform in a significant ricochet, and it would have to be significant, then travel with altered ballistics, then deform again impacting the tank — the two different sequential deformations can be detected.)
I also see no reason why shooting from windows from two adjoining rooms tells LEO anything except that they have to cover two adjoining rooms and that possibly they have two shooters close together, so, nab or shoot anyone exiting either room.
OTOH, IF Paddock could blow a tank, THAT could provide a diversion, possibly allowing him to mow down officers as he exited the room. The thing is, it’s hard to ignite a jet fuel tank with ordinary bullets. See that vid I just linked to. That’s why I think maybe the explosives were supposed to end up by the tanks. IF he could hit that target, maybe he can get out of the room. But I still don’t think he gets out of the hotel.
Agree, but the fibbies were the ones determining the entry angle. We have no trust in their capabilities. They have consistently produced findings that fit narratives. So they are pushing the lone nut with big plans theory. And ignoring the ISIS and/or Antifa claims. Where is there evidence on the entry angle calculations ?
What was their margin of error on calculations ?
Yes, but can he push the crowd toward the fuel? If only 1/10 of the crowd fled that way... Or were the explosives supposed to be placed by a tank? Both?
Maybe there is an answer no one has thought of (at least publicly) yet?
This may be right. The Sheriff said when the security guard came on the scene what piqued his interest was that the door was ajar(!) to Paddock's room.
Paddock may have been just about to slip out the door and down the stairwell when the security guard happened upon the scene.
Perhaps Paddock was monitoring police transmissions and thought he was getting out just ahead of the police, but waited too long.
It’s not really a matter of entry angle. A ricochet bullet and a direct bullet could hit with exactly the same entry angle*, but would look different because the ricochet would show evidence of two impact stresses, and likely be tumbling, too. That sort of analysis would take a good lab, and, likely a little time. How much time I’m not sure. I would guess it “could” be done in a couple days.
*In this case it appears to me the angles would be a little different, but, since I’m not sure about that, I don’t think you or I can definitively say either way, yet.
Now, I am somewhat in agreement with you in that I think it is at least possible that a 2nd person was involved. My speculation is that their role was to to place the explosives found in the car, such that Paddock could blow those fuel tanks as a diversion, and probably upping the casualties.
Here’s a question:
If Paddock CAN blow those tanks, does that create a mass exodus from the hotel and area? Sheesh - maybe he could get away in that circumstance...
So, I’ll alter an above statement: I don’t think Paddock gets out of the hotel unless he can cause a sudden, mass evacuation.
Good point. Did not know that. What bugged me was how the guard opened the door to the room. In that situation most people would use the bolt lock. Heck every time I close a hotel door, the bolt lock gets set. For the hotel to get in would require some extra tools.
Don’t think there was a second person myself. Not now. Video Pokeman was still in room alive shooting guard and police later. So second shooter did not kill him and run out. Either ISIS is right or this shooter thought he could escape.
I saw this earlier. The issue with the receipt is, the date. So, hold on to that until the PD figures out whether he really did check in on a Monday or on a Thursday.
Somebody liked carmalized onions and double cheese - that would be a guy thing. The soup and bagel would be a girly thing. Filling, tho. Pepsi is a liberal thing - and I bet they were cans - with fingerprints. Has recycle been picked up? ;)
Also, that the stairwell was somehow secured, which I take to mean difficult to enter from the corridor.
If these statements are correct, this raises the serious possibility there was indeed someone else who went into the adjoining room, locked it from the inside, exited into the corridor from that adjoining room, went down the stairwell and as he went down the steps somehow blocked the door to the stairwell to keep anyone from following him.
And which door was ajar? The one directly into the main room, or the door from the corridor to the adjoining room? Did a second person leave it open as he fled, if the latter?
see, now that’s what I’m thinkin in my tinfoil hat. Somebody was supposed to get Marilou’s car of explosive delights over to the tanks. Boom. Then double boom. The shooter gets away, police are chasing shadows in 50 directions, Marilou’s name is written on everything, same as now, but she’s alibied - out of the country visiting her poor mom. And no, she’s not a victim. Ok, I’ll take the hat off.
What is the FBI’s narrative? Really haven’t heard from them directly since this entire thing happpened. I know at the press conference the sheriff had an FBI person standing there right next to him the other day. I don’t think he’s saying anything he’s not supposed to say.
The car exploding with all that ammunition inside, would be an incredible diversion. Or even driving the car into the tanks and exploding. Maybe his ISIS companion got cold feet or they hung him out to dry. Out of frustration, he fired a couple shots into tanks. The police would have thought the terrorist were attacking the airport if those tanks exploded or caught fire.
What do you keep posting that same pic in all the Paddock threads? We get it.
In the interest of accuracy please refer to Joe Lombardo as “Sheriff”. He is not the Chief of police, he is the chief LEO in the County. He is elected by the residents of Clark County. Vegas has a Metro Police structure but not a traditional city police force.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_Metropolitan_Police_Department
Interesting points. Here is latest timeline from LVPD.
10:05 First shots fired at crowd.
10:12 Two officers on 31st floor.
10:15 Last shots outside building.
10:17 First two officers enter 32nd floor after hotel dispatch reports guard locating room.
10:18 Officers radio guard was shot and located.
So guard must have interrupted shooter at around 10:15. There is only a 3 minute window for a second shooter to escape. The guard should have seen him.
The stairwell near the room was barricaded so it could not be opened from stairwell from what I gather. Looks like one shooter. Why have a second shooter up there anyway with a car down below loaded with explosives.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.