The Las Vegas shooter took 'more than 10' suitcases into the Mandalay Bay days before the massacre

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The Las Vegas shooter took 'more than 10' suitcases into the Mandalay Bay days before the massacre

Las Vegas shooting

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Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after a active shooter was reported on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A timeline of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock's activities began to unfold nearly 24 hours after he shot at a crowd of concertgoers late Sunday night.

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Law-enforcement officials said during a Monday afternoon press conference that Paddock, who had checked into a large, two-room suite at the Mandalay Bay on Thursday, September 28, got to work soon after.

Paddock brought "in excess of 10" suitcases to the hotel, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said.

It was not immediately clear when Paddock began bringing those suitcases in, and his activity apparently went unnoticed. "No one thought the wiser," one reporter asked Lombardo from off-camera.

"I wish that would've happened, ma'am. I absolutely wish that would've happened," Lombardo said.

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Paddock had 23 firearms in his 32nd-floor hotel suite, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition. He broke two of the windows in the room, from which he fired shots at people attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival across the street. The first shots were reported at 10:08 p.m. PDT.

Mandalay Bay

AP/Business Insider

Two broken windows near the top of the Mandalay Bay Casino, from which a gunman killed at least 50 people with an automatic weapon.

Law-enforcement officials responding to the Mandalay Bay went to the 29th floor of the hotel, Lombardo said, believing the gunfire was coming from somewhere between the 29th and 32nd floor. "We had to evaluate each floor moving up." Lombardo said complaints from customers and information from security led them to the suspect's room.

"They checked each floor until they located what they believed to be the room," Lombardo said. A SWAT team broke down the door, at which point Paddock "shot through the doorway striking a security guard," Lombardo said. The guard suffered a leg wound. Paddock died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

All told, at least 59 people were killed, 527 others were injured.

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Investigators were evaluating multiple crime scenes, including the concert site, Paddock's hotel suite, his home in Mesquite, Nevada, and another home in Reno.