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Five Huge Unanswered Questions About The Las Vegas Shooting

REUTERS/Mike Blake

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Three days after 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on Las Vegas concertgoers late Sunday night, several huge questions remain unanswered.

WHO, if anyone, helped Paddock carry out his operation?

Clark Country Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said at a press conference Wednesday night that he assumes Paddock likely had help in carrying out his mass murder.

“You got to make the assumption he had to have help at some point, and we want to ensure that’s the answer,” Lombardo said. “Maybe he’s a super guy, super hero–not a hero, super–I won’t use the word. Maybe he’s super — that was working out this out on his own, but it will be hard for me to believe that.”

So far, there is no publicly available evidence that Paddock had help in carrying out his plot.

If, as the sheriff believes, Paddock had help, the question remains: from whom? Paddock’s longtime girlfriend, Marilou Danley, was in the Philippines at the time of the attack. She claims to have had no knowledge of Paddock’s murderous intentions.

WHAT was Paddock planning to do with a car full of bomb-making materials? 

Law enforcement officials discovered large quantities of bomb-making materials in Paddock’s car, which was parked at the Mandalay Bay hotel.

Lombardo told reporters on Monday that ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound used to make homemade bombs, was found in Paddock’s car. On Wednesday, Lombardo said that law enforcement officers also found 50 pounds of Tannerite, an explosive chemical, in Paddock’s car.

It’s unclear what Paddock ultimately aimed to do with the car full of bomb-making materials.

HOW did Paddock plan to escape? 

Sheriff Lombardo said Wednesday night that he has reason to believe that Paddock originally planned to remain alive or escape after carrying out the mass murder.

Paddock committed suicide after detecting an unarmed security guard outside his room.

How did he plan to escape? That question remains unanswered.

WATCH WHERE PADDOCK SHOT FROM:

WHY did Paddock buy a room overlooking another concert the week before?

Paddock purchased a room at the Ogden Las Vegas during another music festival, Life Is Beautiful, the previous weekend.

Paddock’s room at the Ogden, like his room at the Mandalay Bay, overlooked the concert venue.

Was the Ogden room a practice run for Sunday night’s massacre? Was it a target? “We don’t know yet,” Lombardo said.

WHY? 

The biggest question in the wake of the shooting: Why did he do it?

More than 72 hours after the deadliest mass shooting in American history, the public still has no answer for why Paddock did what he did.

WATCH PRESIDENT TRUMP EXTEND HIS CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILIES OF THE VEGAS SHOOTING VICTIMS: