LAS VEGAS (AP) – The high-stakes gambler responsible for the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history sought notoriety in the attack but left his specific motive a mystery, the FBI said Tuesday as it concluded the investigation of the 2017 massacre that killed 58 country music fans.
While the agency found no “single or clear motivating factor” to explain to explain why Stephen Paddock opened fire from his suite in a high-rise casino hotel, Paddock may have been seeking to follow in his father’s criminal footsteps, the FBI said.
“It wasn’t about MGM, Mandalay Bay or a specific casino or venue,” Aaron Rouse, the agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas office, told The Associated Press. “It was all about doing the maximum amount of damage and him obtaining some form of infamy.”
Paddock’s physical and mental health was declining. The 64-year-old’s wealth had diminished, and he struggled with aging, federal agents said. The findings were contained in a long-awaited report compiled by the FBI’s Behavior Analysis Unit, a group of experts who spent months examining several factors that might have led to the rampage.
In this Oct. 1, 2017, file photo, police officers stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas. In a report released Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019, the FBI concluded its investigation into the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history without determining a motive. After nearly 16 months, the agency says it can’t determine why gunman Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and injured nearly 900 others in October 2017. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)“This report comes as close to understanding the why as we’re ever going to get,” Rouse said.