Latest In Las Vegas Tragedy Investigation

(Photo courtesy of the Associated Press)

Almost four weeks after the horrible events of Las Vegas, we’re still no closer to answers as to why a 64-year-old man with no financial troubles to speak of would open fire on a crowd at a concert below him. Thus far, we seem to only be getting more and more questions from the investigation.

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The latest question appears to be what happened to the hard drive in the shooter’s computer, which is missing.

A laptop found inside the Las Vegas gunman’s hotel suite after he carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history was missing a hard drive, a federal official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Investigators suspect gunman Stephen Paddock removed the hard drive from the laptop after opened fire from his high-rise suite at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino into a crowd at a country music concert, killing 58 people and wounded hundreds of others, the official said.

The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The hard drive hasn’t been found, according to the official, and the absence of digital clues adds yet another puzzling aspect to the investigation as authorities try to figure out what might’ve led the 64-year-old high-stakes gambler to commit the mass killing. Investigators have examined his politics, finances, any possible radicalization and his social behavior — typical investigative avenues that have helped uncover the motive in past shootings — and there’s still no clear motive.

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To be sure, the revelation of a missing hard drive will do nothing but inflame conspiracy theorists who will undoubtedly latch onto this as proof of some deep, dark conspiracy.

However, the strange nature of the killer’s mind is a bit more muddled. You see, we learned some time ago that his father was a wanted bank robber who had been on the lam for years before finally being arrested and serving his time. Now we find out that the killer’s brother has some…issues of his own.

Bruce Paddock, 58, was taken into custody in North Hollywood on Wednesday morning, according to a source who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case and requested anonymity.

The Los Angeles Police Department said a man was detained in the 5300 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard on suspicion of crimes related to child pornography. However, the LAPD would not reveal the name of the man.

Documents filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court outlined 20 criminal charges against a Bruce Douglas Paddock, all related to possession of child pornography or the sexual exploitation of a child. The felony complaint for arrest warrant said that Paddock stands accused of having more than 600 images of child or youth pornography, including 10 or more images showing a child younger than 12.

The investigation of Paddock began after evidence was found in a Sun Valley business where he had been squatting, the LAPD said in a statement. The evidence was found after Paddock was evicted, police said.

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To say the shooter was suffering from some kind of mental illness is obvious. Now it looks like there may be something that runs in the family.

None of this takes us any closer to understanding just why the killer did what he did. Even psychotic ramblings in a manifesto that is barely comprehensible would almost be preferable to simply not knowing what went on in the killer’s mind.

Unfortunately, we’re still no closer to those answers.

 

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