After the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, the evil of one person was countered by the benevolence of countless others.
Heroes risking their lives to save strangers. Blood donors waiting for hours to help the wounded. Vigils from New York to Las Vegas, where 59 country music fans were killed on the Las Vegas Strip late Sunday night.
Another 527 people are still trying to recover from injuries — everything from gunshot wounds to stampede injuries suffered when 22,000 people tried to flee the gunman’s aim.
No one knows yet what caused 64-year-old Stephen Paddock to inflict such mass tragedy. But based on what authorities have found, he may have been planning something even worse.
In the gunman’s 32nd-floor suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, police recovered 23 weapons, including a handgun and multiple rifles — some with scopes on them.
In his car, authorities also found several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives.
And at Paddock’s home in Mesquite, Nevada, police found at least 19 firearms, explosives and several thousand rounds of ammunition.
So far, police believe Paddock acted alone — which could make the motive harder to determine.
Latest developments
— More than a dozen of the 59 people killed have been publicly identified. Among the latest: 25-year-old Jordan McIldoon of British Columbia, Canada.
— Several vigils were held Monday night to honor the victims of the shooting. Community members gathered in Reno, Las Vegas, the Nellis Air Force Base and at the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
— Paddock was alive when he made first contact with officers. A team of six officers searched the hotel floor-by-floor Sunday night before they determined the shots were coming from Paddock’s large, two-room suite on the 32nd floor, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said.
— Paddock fired at the officers through the door and shot a security guard in the leg, Lombardo said. A SWAT team broke down the door, but Paddock had already killed himself, he said.
— Paddock bought multiple firearms in the past, but investigators believe the firearms were purchased legally, a law enforcement official said. The official said initial reports suggest at least one rifle was altered to function as an automatic weapon.
Running back into danger
The massacre started around 10 p.m. Sunday at the Route 91 Harvest festival, Lombardo said.
Country singer Jason Aldean was on stage when bullets started raining onto the crowd.
“On the main floor … there was no cover — they were all exposed,” survivor Dees Mansholt said. “So you didn’t know if somebody was shot or if they were laying down.”
Frantic concertgoers piled on top of each other, trying to get out of the shooter’s line of fire. But an off-duty nurse ran back into the danger to help those who had been shot.
“We went back because I’m a nurse and I felt I had to,” she told CNN affiliate KTNV. “I went to three different scenes, and by the time I got to the third one, there was just dead bodies.”
The nurse said she was far from alone.
“There was so many people, just normal citizens, doctors, cops, paramedics, nurses, just off duty. Everyone was just communicating and working together.”
Corrine Lomas also recalled the heroism of fellow concertgoers.
“A lot of really good people (were) holding people’s wounds shut, trying to help them while everybody was just ducked down,” she said.
The investigation
Paddock’s transformation from a retired accountant to mass murderer has mystified everyone — his brother, investigators and the families he victimized.
Police had no prior knowledge of the gunman before the attack.
“I don’t know how it could have been prevented,” Sheriff Lombardo said.
The massacre has no known link to overseas terrorism or terror groups, a US official with knowledge of the case said.
And authorities say it’s too early to tell whether the massacre was an act of domestic terrorism.
“We have to establish what his motivation was first,” Lombardo said.
For an act to be considered terrorism, it must appear that it was intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, or try to influence political change.
The gunman’ brother, Eric Paddock, said he was “completely befuddled” by his brother’s actions.
He said Stephen Paddock was an avid gambler who had “no history of violence. No history of anything — couldn’t give a s*** less about politics, religion, pointy hatted people, etc, etc. He just wanted to get a freaking royal flush.”
$3 million raised
Countless strangers have rallied to support victims, donating blood, money and supplies.
By midday Tuesday, a GoFundMe page started by Clark County commissioner had raised more than $3.2 million.
“Funds will be used to provide relief and financial support to the victims and families of the horrific Las Vegas mass shooting,” county commission chair Steve Sisolak wrote.
Throngs of blood donors lined up for hours to help the wounded.
“This is America — people coming together, helping out.” Hector Salas tweeted. “Likely more than 1000 people waiting in line to donate blood.
Strangers also donated flights, housing, food and transportation to victims’ relatives coming to Las Vegas, Clark County Fire Chief Greg Cassell said.
“It takes the worst of America to also see the best of America,” said Mansholt, who survived the gunfire. “Everybody was helping each other.”
Those looking for friends and family still missing after the attack can call 866-535-5654. Facebook has set up a crisis response page to help people determine whether their loved ones are safe.