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Las Vegas shooting: First pictures from hotel room show two of Stephen Paddock's 23 weapons

– At least 59 people dead after shooter opens fire in Las Vegas
– A further 527 people injured
– Gunman named as Stephen Paddock
– First pictures from inside the killer’s hotel room show two of the 23 weapons
– Donald Trump pledges to ‘talk about gun laws as time goes by’
– Police still investigating shooter’s motive
– He was retired millionaire accountant, according to his brother
– Police say they found massive stockpile of weapons
– Shooter killed himself before police entered hotel room
Pictured – the victims of the Vegas shooting

Chilling pictures have emerged that reportedly show guns lying in mass murderer Stephen Paddock’s hotel room.

Stephen Paddock’s hotel room
Stephen Paddock’s hotel room

The images appear to show two rifles from the cache of 23 weapons used to kill 59 people and injure a further 527 in the worst mass shooting in American history.

The pictures, obtained by Boston News 25, show the rifles, as well as spent rounds of ammunition and a hammer.

Assistant sheriff Todd Fasulo said Paddock had 23 guns – some with scopes – in his hotel room. Authorities found 19 more guns at his home in Mesquite, as well as explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a fertiliser that can be turned into explosives such as those used in the 1995 Oklahoma bombing, were discovered in his car.

The 64-year-old retired accountant from Mesquite, Nevada, killed himself before officers stormed Room 135 on the 32nd floor of the gold-coloured glass skyscraper.

Gun reform?

In the wake of the mass shooting Donald Trump has vowed to discuss gun laws amid warnings that any such move would make his supporters ‘go insane’.

The US President also described Paddock as ‘demented’ and a ‘very, very sick individual.’

Mr Trump then added: ‘We’ll be talking about gun laws as time goes by.’

Any such move would be met with doubtless be met with hostility by his supporters with Roger Stone, a former adviser to Mr Trump, warning that if the President were to support gun control his key supporters would ‘go insane, and he knows it’.

Donald Trump talks to reporters as he walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Donald Trump talks to reporters as he walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon also warned that it would be ‘the end of everything’ if Trump, a committed supporter of the Second Amendment, changed his stance.

The worst mass shooting in American history

Stephen Craig Paddock sprayed bullets on revellers enjoying the Route 91 Harvest Festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

The death toll is the highest of any mass shooting in modern American history.

Hundreds of people fled the scene in terror as the shots rang out at about 10.30pm.

Police have described Paddock as a ‘psychopath’.

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Investigators believe the shooting was a “lone wolf” attack, and say they do not have any information to lead them to suspect there were more assailants.

What was the motive?

Police are desperately trying to uncover a motive for the gunman, whose actions have left his family ‘dumbfounded’.

“We have no idea what his belief system was,” Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. “I can’t get into the mind of a psychopath.”

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the incident, although the CIA said that it was aware the terror group had made the claim but urged people not to jump to conclusions, saying there was no evidence Paddock had converted to Islam. Local police are not treating the incident as a terror attack.

According to public records, he did not have any previous criminal convictions in Nevada.

This undated photo provided by Eric Paddock, the brother of Stephen (pictured right). (AP)
This undated photo provided by Eric Paddock, the brother of Stephen (pictured right). (AP)

The gunman’s brother, Eric Paddock, described his brother as a multimillionaire, who had made his money in real estate.

He added that his brother ‘was not an avid gun guy at all’ and had ‘no religious affiliation, no political affiliation.’

He said: ‘The fact that he had those kinds of weapons is just … where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that.’

Stephen Paddock, pictured right, fired hundreds of shots from his hotel room at music-goers (Picture: Getty)
Stephen Paddock, pictured right, fired hundreds of shots from his hotel room at music-goers (Picture: Getty)

The investigation

Police had launched a search for Marilou Danley, 62, who lived with Paddock at a retirement community 80 miles from Las Vegas, but later confirmed she is no longer a ‘person of interest’ in the investigation.

Police now believe she had no involvement in the shooting as she was out of the country. Paddock used her ID when he checked into the hotel last Thursday, 28 September.

The broken windows of a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas (Picture: Getty)
The broken windows of a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas (Picture: Getty)

Witnesses describe the carnage

Witnesses described the horrifying incident to the media.

British holidaymaker Mike Thompson, from London, told the BBC: ‘We were walking back to our hotel, the MGM, after dinner and we saw people running towards us in total panic.

‘One man had blood all over him and that’s when I knew something was seriously wrong.

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‘I could hear automatic gunfire so I grabbed my partner and we ran to the back streets. People were running and there was chaos.’

Jake Friedman, who was at the concert, told Sky News: ‘You could clearly see dozens of bodies piled up on the ground.

‘Then we realised people were getting massacred in front of us.’

A witness told News3LV that ‘bullets were flying everywhere’ as concertgoers fled.

‘They were firing from somewhere high and they were unloading clip after clip after clip after clip,’ the man said.

‘It sounded like some fireworks going off,’ a witness told NBC Las Vegas. ‘And then I think there was like the first kind of volley, then the second volley. Lots of people got hit.

People lay on the on the ground while others fleed to avoid the shots (Picture: Getty)
People lay on the on the ground while others fleed to avoid the shots (Picture: Getty)

Country singer Jason Aldean was playing near the end of the concert when gunfire began.

Aldean, who was performing on stage when the shooting started, posted a message on his Instagram page.

He wrote: ‘Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still don’t know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that me and my crew are safe.

‘My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night.’