(Click to enlarge) Police have confirmed the authenticity of leaked photographs of the deceased gunman with a revolver by his side and of his hotel suite, showing ammunition and rifles. Photos: Twitter screencap via MikeTokes

UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW

LAS VEGAS —Perched in a 32nd-floor hotel room overlooking 22,000 people jammed into a country music festival, Stephen Craig Paddock had an unobstructed view to rain rapid-fire bullets on the crowd, with few places for them to hide.

The 64-year-old high-stakes gambler and real estate investor specifically requested an upper-floor room with a view of the music festival when he checked in last Thursday (Sept 28), according to a person who has seen hotel records turned over to investigators.

At least three AR-15-style rifles were visible on the floor and on the furniture, along with at least a dozen high-capacity magazines, which can hold up to 100 rounds. A standard American infantry soldier's magazine is 30 rounds. Photo: Twitter screencap via MikeTokes

Paddock wasn't able to move into the room until Saturday, said the person, who was not authorised to speak publicly and disclosed the information to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The room, which goes for US$590 (S$803), was given to Paddock free because he was a good customer who wagered tens of thousands of dollars each time he visited the casino, the person said.

It was just another indication of how methodically he planned the attack.

Two of the rifles were outfitted with medium-magnification scopes and two-legged supports, known as bipods, attached to the undersides of the weapons. Photo: Twitter screencap via MikeTokes

NUMEROUS WEAPONS

Authorities have said he brought 23 weapons in 10 suitcases into the room and set up cameras inside and out to watch for police closing in on him.

Paddock fired from his hotel suite for nine to 11 minutes before eventually killing himself. Besides the 23 guns in the room, police found 12 "bump stock" devices that can enable a semi-automatic rifle to fire continuously, like a fully automatic weapon.

Police have also confirmed the authenticity of leaked photographs of the deceased gunman with a revolver by his side and of his hotel suite, showing ammunition and rifles.

Air Force One departs Las Vegas past the broken windows on the Mandalay Bay hotel where shooter Stephen Paddock conducted his mass shooting along the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. photo: Reuters

At least three AR-15-style rifles were visible on the floor and on the furniture, along with at least a dozen high-capacity magazines, which can hold up to 100 rounds. A standard American infantry soldier's magazine is 30 rounds.

(Click to enlarge) Paddock requested for an upper-floor room with a view of the music festival when he checked in on Sept 28. Photo: Google maps screencap

AR-15-style rifles are a civilian variant of a standard service rifle used by the American military for more than a half-century. Unlike the military versions, they support only semiautomatic fire.

Two of the rifles were outfitted with medium-magnification scopes and two-legged supports, known as bipods, attached to the undersides of the weapons. These additions would have helped Paddock target specific individuals.

Drapes billow out of broken windows at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino following the deadly shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas. Photo: AP

Paddock is believed to have used a hammerlike device to break two windows on the 32nd floor, before firing on concertgoers about 400 yards away.

Paddock had been buying weapons since 1982, including 33 in the past year, Ms Jill A Snyder, the special agent in charge of the San Francisco office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told CBS on Wednesday.

A search of Paddock's car turned up a supply of ammonium nitrate, a fertiliser that can be formed into explosives and was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of a federal office building that killed 168 people, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said earlier.

Agents from the FBI use binoculars from the broken window where a gunman opened fire at the Mandalay Bay hotel. Photos: AP

A total of 24 firearms were found in his two houses. Ms Snyder said on Tuesday that almost all had been traced, and that they had been bought in Nevada, Utah, California and Texas.

LOCATING PADDOCK

Officers entering the Mandalay Bay hotel on Sunday in Las Vegas, where Paddock was holed up, initially struggled to figure out what floor he was on.

Several SWAT teams were sent to the hotel immediately after the first reports of the shooting at 10.08pm on Monday (Oct 2).

Mr Lombardo said that Paddock fired through his hotel room door at security guards, striking one in the leg. The guard is still alive, he said.

A full listen to the audio of the police scanner during the shooting makes clear that law enforcement officials first made conflicting references to the potential origin of the shots in the beginning of the search:

The grounds of the Route 91 Harvest festival, with the Mandalay Bay Hotel behind the stage, on Las Vegas Boulevard South in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: Reuters

- One officer reported shots coming from a window on the "50th or 60th floor" on the north side of the Mandalay Bay - an inexact but close description of the eventually revealed location. Another said he saw "multiple flashes in the middle of Mandalay Bay on north side, kind of on the west tower but toward the centre of the casino," potentially referring to the lower-floor light.

People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on Oct 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: AFP

- Then one officer reported a more precise location, telling others, "I'm inside the Mandalay Bay on the 31st floor. I can hear the automatic fire coming from one ahead - one floor above us."

People call loved ones while hiding inside the Sands Corporation plane hangar after a lone gunman fired upon the Route 91 Harvest country festival. Photo: AP

- Another dispelled the notion of a lower-floor shooter and said, "I haven't seen any flashes from Mandalay. But if it is coming from Mandalay, there is a strobe light coming from one of the windows on the east side."

View of Mandalay Bay Hotel from the concert venue. Photo: Google maps screencap

After a few more minutes, the officers pinned down the gunman's location: "It's Room 135 on the 32nd floor. I need SWAT."

SWAT teams quickly descended on the concert and the casino, and officers used explosives to get into the hotel room.

Paddock later killed himself as a SWAT team converged on his perch. AGENCIES

(Click to enlarge) An overview of the Las Vegas Strip. Photo: Google maps screencap

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