Las Vegas gunman planned to escape after massacre, sheriff says

 (CNN) -- The gunman behind the massacre in Las Vegas spent decades amassing an arsenal of weapons, and led such a secretive life, much of it remains unknown days after the attack, authorities said.

Stephen Paddock planned to escape after killing 58 people at a country music festival Sunday night, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said without providing details.

But as authorities moved in, Paddock turned the gun on himself in his room on the 32nd-floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

In addition to the dozens killed, the attack left nearly 500 concertgoers wounded either by the barrage of bullets or in the panic to escape.

New details

Lombardo painted a picture of a man whose previous actions raised speculation that he may have had help in planning the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

"What we know is Paddock is a man who spent decades acquiring guns and ammo and living a secret life," he said Wednesday night.

"Anything that would indicate this individual trigger point, which would cause him to inflict this harm, we're not there yet. Relationship wise, its very hard to determine what's occurred in his life in the last decade or so."

Investigators said something happened to Paddock in October last year that compelled him to purchase more weapons. Lombardo said they have not found accomplices so far, but are still looking.

"Do you think this was all accomplished on his own? You've got to make the assumption he had to have some help at some point," the sheriff said.

Lombardo highlighted the killer's many weapons and explosives in his car, along with what he described as the "premeditation of his room."

The evidence laid out by investigators shows Paddock meticulously planned the shooting.

He purchased 33 firearms, mostly rifles, between October last year and September this year, authorities said.

He also checked into the room days in advance, stocked a cache of weapons there and set up cameras inside his hotel suite and in the hallway.

The arsenal of weapons in his hotel suite included bump-fire stocks -- legal devices that enable a shooter to fire bullets rapidly, similar to an automatic rifle.

The first call reporting shots fired came at 10:08 p.m. Sunday, and the gunfire didn't stop until 10:19 p.m., Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said. The shooting continued off and on for nine to 11 minutes, he said.

Before targeting the Route 91 Harvest music festival, Paddock rented a room at a condominium complex overlooking the Life is Beautiful music festival, another downtown event that occurred between September 22 to September 25.

"Was he doing pre-surveillance? We don't know yet, this is all conjecture at this point," Lombardo said.

Few answers, more questions

Days after the attack, investigators remain baffled about Paddock's motives even after talking to his girlfriend.

In a statement through an attorney, Marilou Danley said she didn't know he planned to carry out a mass shooting.

She said he bought her a ticket to the Philippines about two weeks ago, then wired her money so she could buy herself a house there. At the time, she was worried he was trying to break up with her.

Paddock wired $100,000 to the Philippines, a law enforcement source said, but officials haven't determined when the money transfer took place or who was the recipient. The FBI is working with Philippine authorities to get more details.

"It never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone," Danley said in the statement.

Danley lived with Paddock in Mesquite, Nevada, and was out of the country during the shooting.

She returned to the United States on Tuesday night from the Philippines and spoke to the FBI and the Las Vegas police, according to her attorney, Matt Lombard.

"I will cooperate fully with their investigation," she said in the statement. "Anything I can do to help ease suffering and help in any way, I will do."

Motive still a mystery

Almost three days after the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, investigators appear no closer to answering the question: Why?

Why did the 64-year-old fire with an arsenal of weapons for nine to 11 minutes? What pushed him to target a crowd of 22,000 in the heart of Las Vegas?

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told CNBC that the lack of a clear motive was a "surprise" in this mass shooting.

"This one is somewhat different than many of the ones we've dealt with in the past, because we don't have any immediately accessible thumbprints that would indicate the shooter's ideology or motivation, or really what compelled him to get there," McCabe said.

The FBI is going through Paddock's communications, financial records, associates and video surveillance to try to piece together the puzzle of his motive.

Paddock is twice divorced, liked to gamble, and at one time had jobs at the US Post Office and the IRS. He had no significant criminal history and was previously unknown to police.

The killer also had cameras set up inside and outside the suite. Police don't know if the devices were transmitting -- the FBI is investigating their use.

But the Clark County sheriff said Paddock might have used them to watch for people approaching his room. One camera looked out the peephole on the suite's door.