The room rented by the gunman in the Las Vegas shooting at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino won’t be rented out anytime soon, the hotel has said.
On Oct. 1, Stephen Paddock used a suite on the 32nd floor of the hotel to gun down 58 people who were attending a country music festival in the street below his room. Paddock later turned the gun on himself. The massacre is the deadliest in modern U.S. history.
“This was a terrible tragedy perpetrated by an evil man,” the company said in a statement, according to the Las Vegas Sun. “We have no intention of renting that room. We’ve been cooperating with law enforcement from the moment this happened, which includes preserving evidence.”
MGM, which owns Mandalay Bay, also owns of the festival grounds across the street where the Route 91 Harvest festival was being held. It has not said what its plans are for the 14-acre festival grounds.
It’s unclear if the resort plans to rent the room in the future.
Gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire into the sold-out crowd of 22,000 concertgoers, spraying a barrage of bullets for 11 minutes straight. In addition to those who lost their lives, more than 500 were injured in the mass shooting.
In the weeks since the shooting, police have been searching for a motive for the attack. Paddock, a wealthy 64-year-old high-stakes gambler, doesn’t fit the profile of most mass shooters.
Critics have questioned what took authorities so long to hone in on Paddock on the night of the attack and many conspiracy theories abound. The FBI has questioned Jesus Campos, a security guard Paddock allegedly shot at the hotel prior to the massacre and Paddock’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, but have not revealed what — if any— information those interviews have revealed.
Police hoped Paddock’s autopsy might shed some light on motive, but his brain didn’t reveal any signs of dementia or deficiency, Newsweek reported.
