Las Vegas shooter had explosives, thousands of rounds of ammunition at home

US police said they recovered explosives, weapons and ammunition from the home of Stephen Paddock, the gunman who killed 59 people in Las Vegas.

Police searched a house in Mesquite, Nevada, "recovering 18 guns, some explosives, several thousand rounds of ammunition and electronic devices," AFP quoted Joseph Lombardo, Las Vegas police chief, as saying on October 2. The house belonged to Stephen Paddock, the gunman who opened fire at a music festival in Las Vegas on the evening of October 1.

Lombardo said the death toll in the incident had risen to 59 dead and 527 injured.

Chris Michel, owner of Dixie GunWorx, a gun store in St. George, Utah, which borders Nevada, said Paddock had visited the store several times this year and purchased a handgun in February after completing a federal background check.

St. George is about a 40-minute drive from Mesquite. Michel said he spoke with Paddock to make sure he was allowed to buy a gun. “There were no restrictions,” Michel said. “I didn’t know he could do that.”

Eric Paddock, Stephen Paddock's brother, said the shooter worked as an accountant and had no children.

Stephen Paddock. Photo: WOFL/Eric Paddock.

Paddock, 64, was on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel on the evening of October 1, shooting down a crowd at a nearby music festival. Paddock may have killed himself before security forces stormed his room.

Two officials familiar with the investigation said authorities found at least 17 guns in Paddock’s hotel room. Paddock had two devices that attach to semiautomatic guns to turn them into automatic weapons, a type of device that has come to the attention of authorities in recent years.

According to VNE