The mystery over mass shooter Stephen Paddock deepened Thursday with news he rented rooms at Chicago’s Blackstone Hotel overlooking the Lollapalooza music festival in Grant Park in August, two months before he opened fire at a country music concert in Las Vegas.
Paddock reserved two rooms on the park side of the hotel with a clear view of the outdoor festival, but he never showed up, according to a law enforcement source, who asked for anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to publicly disclose the details.
The reservations covered the four-day event, which drew hundreds of thousands of music fans, including former President Barack Obama’s daughters Malia and Sasha, as well as Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The disclosure fueled speculation that Paddock may have been considering other targets before settling on Las Vegas Sunday night, where he fatally shot 58 people and wounded nearly 500 others.
The Boston Globe, quoting anonymous sources, said Paddock may have scouted Fenway Park and other Boston venues. And Las Vegas police say Paddock rented hotel rooms near a concert featuring Chance the Rapper in Las Vegas about a week before the mass shooting, which occurred farther down the strip.
Investigators say Paddock’s motive still eludes them as they piece together his movements and track down his purchases of dozens of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
“Anything that would indicate this individual’s trigger point and would cause him to do such harm, we haven’t understood it yet,” Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. He said Paddock had been “living a secret life, much of which will never be fully understood.”
Click here to read more.
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, Jeremy Gorner
BCNN1 WP 