LAS VEGAS — In surveillance video obtained by the New York Times, Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock’s movements within the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino are seen in the days leading up to the Oct. 1 massacre that left 58 dead. Police say Paddock, 64, opened fire on attendees of the Route 91 Harvest country music festival from his 32nd-floor suite that night.
He killed himself just before authorities stormed his room. His motive remains a mystery.
In the video clips obtained by the Times, Paddock is seen leaving the hotel multiple times for his home in Mesquite — about 80 miles away — returning in a minivan filled with suitcases and chatting with bellhops as they stack the luggage on carts and help him transport it upstairs.
According to the Times, he transported 21 bags over the course of seven days – inside were the arsenal of weapons he used to carry out the massacre.
Police say Stephen Paddock (inset) opened fire through two windows on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Oct. 1, 2017.
CBS News/AP Photo
Paddock is unassuming in the video, riding the elevator, gambling, eating and tipping staff. The hotel’s parent company has previously said the multiple interactions Paddock had with staff — including a room service delivery and a call with housekeeping on the day of the shooting — were “normal in nature.”
The video shows how Paddock was able to blend in among hotel guests while at the same time apparently meticulously planning the mass shooting, the deadliest in U.S. history.
The New York Times obtained the video from Mandalay Bay’s parent company, MGM Resorts.
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