LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas gunman’s girlfriend, back in the United States after a weekslong trip abroad, will be at the center of the investigation into the shooting deaths of 59 people as authorities try to determine why a man with no known record of violence or crime would open fire on a concert crowd from a high-rise hotel.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
This undated photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Marilou Danley. Girlfriend of the active shooter in the Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, incident, Danley, 62, returned to the United States from the Philippines on Tuesday night and was met at Los Angeles International Airport by FBI agents, according to a law enforcement official.
Stephen Paddock’s girlfriend Marilou Danley, 62, who was in the Philippines at the time of the shooting, was met by FBI agents at the airport in Los Angeles late Tuesday night, according to a law enforcement official.
The official wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, who has called Danley a “person of interest” in the attack, said that “we anticipate some information from her shortly,” and said he is “absolutely” confident authorities will find out what set off Paddock, a 64-year-old high-stakes gambler and retired accountant who killed himself before police stormed his 32nd-floor room.
Danley first arrived in the Philippines on Sept. 15, according to immigration documents there. She departed on Sept. 22 then returned three days later on a flight from Hong Kong. She was traveling on an Australian passport.
Philippines immigration bureau spokeswoman Antonette Mangrobang said authorities there had been working with U.S. officials.
“From the very beginning, we have been providing them necessary information that would aid their investigation,” Mangrobang said.
Danley’s Australia-based sisters say they believe Paddock sent her away so she wouldn’t interfere with his plans.
Australia’s Channel 7 TV network interviewed the sisters with their faces obscured and their names withheld. They said they believe their sister couldn’t have known about his ideas.
The woman said Danley is “a good person” who would’ve stopped Paddock had she been there.
One of the sisters, who live near Brisbane, Queensland, said they believed Marilou knew Paddock had guns, but not as many as he had.
“She probably was even (more) shocked than us because she is more closer to him than us,” her sister said.
Paddock transferred $100,000 to the Philippines in the days before the shooting, a U.S. official briefed by law enforcement but not authorized to speak publicly because of the continuing investigation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Investigators are still trying to trace that money and also looking into a least a dozen financial reports over the past several weeks that said Paddock gambled more than $10,000 per day, the official said.
David Becker, Getty Images
People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
David Becker, Getty Images
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
John Locher, The Associated Press
Police officers advise people to take cover near the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas.
David Becker, Getty Images
People take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
David Becker, Getty Images
A man lays on top of a woman as others flee the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after a active shooter was reported on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The photographer witnessed the man help the woman up and they walked away. Injuries are unknown.
David Becker, Getty Images
A person lies on the ground covered with blood at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Chase Stevens, Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP
People run from the New York New York during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Stirp in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
John Locher, The Associated Press
Police run to cover at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
David Becker, Getty Images
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
David Becker, Getty Images
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
John Locher, The Associated Press
A police officer takes cover behind a truck at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
John Locher, The Associated Press
A police officer takes cover behind a police vehicle during a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas.
John Locher, The Associated Press
Police stand at the scene of a shooting along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Chase Stevens, Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP
A wounded person is walked in on a wheelbarrow as Las Vegas police respond during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Stirp in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
John Locher, The Associated Press
Police officers and medical personnel stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
John Locher, The Associated Press
A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Chase Stevens, Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP
A man waits during lockdown at the Tropicana Las Vegas during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Chase Stevens, Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP
People assist a wounded woman at the Tropicana during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Stirp in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Chase Stevens, Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP
Las Vegas police sweep through a convention center area during a lockdown Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, at the Tropicana Las Vegas following an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip. Multiple victims were transported to hospitals after a deadly shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Chase Stevens, Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP
People are searched by Las Vegas police at the Tropicana Las Vegas during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Steve Marcus, Las Vegas Sun via AP
A body is covered with a sheet after a mass shooting in which dozens were killed at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017.
Ethan Miller, Getty Images
People hug and cry outside the Thomas and Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the music festival, leaving at least 50 people dead and hundreds injured. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing.
Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images
The U.S. flag flies at half-staff over the White House Oct. 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump ordered the flags on all federal buildings to fly at half-staff following the mass shooting that left more than 50 dead in Las Vegas. The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on an outdoor music festival. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing.
Alex Wong, Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump makes a statement on the Las Vegas mass shooting at the Diplomatic Room of the White House October 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the music festival, leaving at least 50 people dead and hundreds injured. Police have confirmed that one suspect is dead. The investigation is ongoing.
Evan Vucci, The Associated Press
President Donald Trump makes a statement about the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 at the White House in Washington.
Mark Wilson, Getty Images
A Park Service employee lowers the U.S. flags on the grounds of the Washington Monument to half-staff, on Oct. 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump ordered the flags on all federal buildings to fly at half-staff following the mass shooting that left more than 50 dead in Las Vegas. The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, allegedly opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on an outdoor music festival. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing.
John Locher, The Associated Press
MGM Resorts announced Friday that it does not plan to rent out room No. 32135 at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, the perch from which Stephen Paddock shot and killed 58 people and injured more than 500.
Ronda Churchill, The Associated Press
People walk near the Las Vegas Strip shortly after sunrise Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A deadly shooting occurred Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Ronda Churchill, The Associated Press
A woman speaks on the phone while walking along the Las Vegas Strip near Mandalay Bay hotel and casino Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A mass shooting occurred late night Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
Ethan Miller, Getty Images
Concert-goers wait for a ride outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at a country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. People who could not go to hotel-casinos that were closed after the shooting temporarily stayed at the center. The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the music festival, leaving at least 50 people dead and hundreds injured. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing.
Al Powers, Invision/AP
Women make phone calls while taking shelter inside the Sands Corporation plane hangar after a mass shooting in which dozens were killed at Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas.
Ethan Miller, Getty Images
United Blood Services phlebotomist Sha-Na Hill (L) takes blood from Richard Williams of Nevada at a special United Blood Services drive at a University Medical Center facility to help victims of a mass shooting on Oct. 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A lone gunman opened fired on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 1 leaving more than 50 dead and hundreds wounded.
Mark Ralston, AFP/Getty Images
Crime scene tape surrounds the Mandalay Hotel after a gunman killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 200 others when he opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oct. 2, 2017.
Police said the gunman, a 64-year-old local resident named as Stephen Paddock, had been killed after a SWAT team responded to reports of multiple gunfire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, a hotel-casino next to the concert venue.
David Becker, Getty Images
Las Vegas police investigate a side street near the Las Vegas Village after a lone gunman opened fired on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, allegedly opened fire from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the music festival, leaving at least 58 people dead and over 500 injured. According to reports, Paddock killed himself at the scene.
David Becker, Getty Images
1 of 35
People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
As for what may have set Paddock off, retired FBI profiler Jim Clemente speculated that there was “some sort of major trigger in his life — a great loss, a breakup, or maybe he just found out he has a terminal disease.”
Clemente said a “psychological autopsy” may be necessary to try to establish the motive. If the suicide didn’t destroy Paddock’s brain, experts may even find a neurological disorder or malformation, he said.
He said there could be a genetic component to the slaughter: Paddock’s father was a bank robber who was on the FBI’s most-wanted list in the 1960s and was diagnosed a psychopath.
“The genetics load the gun, personality and psychology aim it, and experiences pull the trigger, typically,” Clemente said.
Paddock had a business degree from Cal State Northridge. In the 1970s and ’80s, he worked as a mail carrier and an IRS agent and held down a job in an auditing division of the Defense Department, according to the government. He later worked for a defense contractor.
He had no known criminal record, and public records showed no signs of financial troubles.
Nevada’s Gaming Control Board said it will pass along records compiled on Paddock and his girlfriend to investigators.
His brother, Eric Paddock, said he was at a loss to explain the massacre.
“No affiliation, no religion, no politics. He never cared about any of that stuff,” he said outside his Florida home.
Eric Paddock said his brother did show a confrontational side at times: He apparently hated cigarette smoke so much that he carried around a cigar and blew smoke in people’s faces when they lit up around him.
Lombardo said the investigation is proceeding cautiously in case criminal charges are warranted against someone else.
“This investigation is not ended with the demise of Mr. Paddock,” the sheriff said. “Did this person get radicalized unbeknownst to us? And we want to identify that source.”
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump is set to arrive in Las Vegas to meet with public officials, first responders and some of the 527 people injured in the attack. At least 45 patients at two hospitals remained in critical condition.
All but three of the dead had been identified by Tuesday afternoon, Lombardo said.
Some investigators turned their focus Tuesday from the shooter’s perch to the festival grounds where his victims fell.
A dozen investigators, most in FBI jackets and all wearing blue booties to avoid contaminating the scene, documented evidence at the site where gunfire rained down and country music gave way to screams of pain and terror.
“Shoes, baby strollers, chairs, sunglasses, purses. The whole field was just littered with things,” said Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt after touring the site Monday. “There were bloodstains everywhere.”
While Paddock’s motive has proved elusive, investigators have found no shortage of evidence of how Paddock carried out the elaborate attack.
He planned the massacre so meticulously that he even set up cameras inside the peephole of his high-rise hotel room and on a service cart outside his door, apparently to spot anyone coming for him, authorities said.
Investigators also found a computer and 23 guns with him at the hotel, along with 12 “bump stock” devices that can enable a rifle to fire continuously, like an automatic weapon, authorities said. Nineteen more guns were found at Paddock’s Mesquite home and seven at his Reno house.
Authorities released police body camera video that showed the chaos of the attack as officers tried to figure out the location of the shooter and shuttle people to safety. Amid sirens and volleys of gunfire, people yelled “they’re shooting right at us” while officers shouted “go that way!”
Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said the shooting spanned between nine and 11 minutes.
The cameras Paddock set up at the Mandalay Bay hotel casino were part of his extensive preparations that included stockpiling nearly two dozen guns in his room before opening fire on the concert below. McMahill said the cameras included one in the peephole and two in the hallway.
“I anticipate he was looking for anybody coming to take him into custody,” Lombardo said.
During the Sunday night rampage, a hotel security guard who approached the room was shot through the door and wounded in the leg.
“The fact that he had the type of weaponry and amount of weaponry in that room, it was preplanned extensively,” the sheriff said, “and I’m pretty sure he evaluated everything that he did and his actions, which is troublesome.”
___
Jim Gomez in Manila, Phillipines; Brian Skoloff, Regina Garcia Cano and Sally Ho in Las Vegas; Brian Melley and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles; and Sadie Gurman and Tami Abdollah in Washington contributed to this report.