Las Vegas shooter booked hotel overlooking Lollapalooza, seen with mystery woman
Here's the latest on the investigation into the Las Vegas shooting:
� At least 59 people, including the shooter, died after Sunday night's mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival.
� The motive remains unknown, but police say the attack was "obviously premeditated."
� The gunman, Stephen Paddock, may have planned to escape the scene.
� A note authorities found in Paddock's hotel was not a suicide note.
� Paddock visited several music festivals in the Las Vegas area.
� Paddock booked hotel rooms in Chicago in August overlooking the Lollapalooza music festival.
� Paddock was seen gambling for eight hours straight on the night before the shooting.
� Paddock was seen with another woman, who was not his girlfriend, in the days before the shooting.
Suspect may have visited other music festivals
Officials briefed on the investigation into alleged Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock told ABC News that Paddock booked hotel rooms in Chicago in early August during the Lollapalooza music festival. One of the hotels where he had reservations was the Blackstone on South Michigan Avenue, across from Grant Park, where the annual event took place.
The Chicago Police Department said in a statement Thursday, "We are aware of the media reports and have been in communication with our federal partners. As you saw earlier this week the city conducts extensive public safety planning and training around major events, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, to ensure public safety."
A source with the Chicago Police Department confirmed for ABC News that Paddock had reservations at the Blackstone hotel.
However, a spokesman for the Blackstone told ABC News in a statement today, "We can confirm that there was no guest under [Paddock's] name who stayed at our hotel in August during the Lollapalooza music festival. We are cooperating with the authorities on this matter."
It's unclear whether Paddock traveled to Chicago at that time.
Officials briefed on the investigation also told ABC News that Paddock may have visited several music festivals in the greater Las Vegas area over the past several months. All the venues are believed to have been within driving distance of Las Vegas.
Paddock is also believed to have made regular trips to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino starting Sept. 3 and through the rest of the month. He was known at most of the big casinos on the Las Vegas Strip because he was a major player who visited the casinos a lot, the officials said.
Investigators are also looking into whether Paddock tried to secure a room at El Cortez Hotel and Casino, at the opposite end of the Strip from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, on the weekend that the Life Is Beautiful music festival took place, from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24, the officials told ABC News.
During the Wednesday news conference, Lombardo confirmed that Paddock rented a room that weekend at the Ogden hotel in downtown Las Vegas. Authorities have recovered items and surveillance video from when he stayed there, Lombardo said.
ing at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard in Las Vegas, Oct. 2, 2017.more +
Paddock also searched for hotels near Fenway Park in Boston, though there is no indication that he traveled there, sources briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
The Boston Police Department said in a statement today, "We are aware of the media reports referencing a Boston connection to the Las Vegas mass shooting incident that occurred on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. The Boston Regional Intelligence Center is in contact with our local and federal law enforcement partners here and in Las Vegas and continues to monitor the situation. There is currently no known threat to the Metro Boston homeland security region related to this incident."
Meticulous planning preceded 'premeditated' shooting
As investigators delve deeper into how Sunday night's massacre in Las Vegas unfolded, more chilling details have emerged about the suspected gunman and how he carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Authorities said Paddock opened fire on a music festival crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and injuring 489 others � a decrease from original reports, after officials double-checked numbers. More than 22,000 people were attending the final night of the Route 91 Harvest Festival when gunfire erupted.
The shooting lasted nine to 11 minutes, with the first reports of gunshots beginning Sunday at 10:05 p.m. PT and the final shots being fired at 10:15 p.m., authorities said. It's believed that Paddock was the sole shooter in the attack.
