Pence stresses unity at shooting commemoration
LAS VEGAS United States Vice-President Mike Pence visited Las Vegas stressing unity and offering solace as police appealed to the public for help in uncovering a wealthy retiree's motive for massacring 58 people at an outdoor concert this week.
"We are united in our grief, in our support for those who have suffered and united in our resolve to end such evil in our time," Mr Pence said, joining Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and other local leaders at a City Hall commemoration for victims of the shooting.
GUN VIOLENCE
Las Vegas' Democratic Congresswoman Dina Titus was the only speaker who touched on the subject of gun violence and politics, saying, "Let us also pray for those who have power that they will have the wisdom, the courage, and the resolve to find ways to end the gun violence that plagues our nation."
The commemoration came as Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said investigators remain largely in the dark about what drove retired real estate investor and high-stakes gambler Stephen Paddock to carry out the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
"We have looked at everything, literally, to include the suspect's personal life, any political affiliation, his social behaviours, economic situation, any potential radicalisation," said McMahill.
A piece of paper found in Paddock's room at the Mandalay Bay hotel appeared to calculate the distance and height from his window to help target victims below, the CBS News show "60 Minutes" said ahead of a broadcast yesterday.
Officer David Newton of the Las Vegas Police Department's K-9 unit, said he noticed Paddock's note "on the nightstand near his shooting platform".
He said: "I could see on it he had written the distance, the elevation he was on, the drop of what his bullet was going to be for the crowd. So he had that written down and figured out so he would know where to shoot to hit his targets from there." - REUTERS
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