Does anyone sense a 9-11 level of calculation behind the Vegas attack?

[hexola]

I've always considered 9-11 the work of a very small group - who were wildly intelligent, calculating - and a bit lucky.

This strikes me the same way...

Events like Sandy Hook - while still testimony for gun control - seem more like random, unfortunate events.

Compared to Vegas - which really had to take a lot of calculation and planning.

And when I say calculation - I mean "the intended effect"

[maryellen99]

1. Yep and I wouldnt be surprised if the Bundy idiots helped him

I’m starting to think the media/authorities know that he is a trump bot and that they are keeping it quiet.

[gopiscrap]

30. wow, that kind of went through my thought pattern the other night also

[Not Ruth]

2. Absolutely

This was a PhD thesis in terrorism.

Years spent establishing credibility in the community and the casinos, never doing anything wrong, the perfect venue, the perfect location, easily defended until the end, literally every single act in his life was legal and in character with a solid citizen, until he attacked several hundred thousand people. Right now, it is looking like guns or genetics turned him into a terrorist. But what turned him into possibly the most successful terrorist ever?

[Not Ruth]

3. He did not just have a clean criminal and mental health record, he did not just buy legal guns

He passed a background check at a defense contractor, while having a ton of cash, property, and addresses. That does not sound easy. I am betting that they checked him more thoroughly that they did some guy that lived down the block from his parents and had a single 9-5 job for his entire life.

The most fascinating thing about him is this quote from his brother. Who says something like this?

"The children’s mother was left to raise the family on her own. They moved around the country, from Iowa to Tucson to Southern California, another brother, Patrick Paddock II, of Tucson, said. Stephen Paddock’s behavior did not offer any indication of violent tendencies, the brother said.

“He was the least violent in the family during my childhood. So, it’s kind of like, ‘Who?’ ” Comparing himself to his brother, he said, “I have much more anger.”"

[ret5hd]

5. I'm not sure I get it...

What credibility was needed? Maybe I'm just not understanding something, but it seems to me that if he knew there was going to be a concert on a particular date, just call and make a reservation for a "nice room, high up, facing east (or west or whatever direction). Check in and get the room key, park the car and go to the room with the guns (maybe several trips).

Is there something I'm not grasping?

[Not Ruth]

7. He was a big money regular at the casinos

He would have been treated well and never questioned about his activities.

[ret5hd]

12. I guess I'm asking...

Why would he have been questioned if he was or wasn't a big money regular.

In fact, I can see that as being a possible hindrance...rather than being an anonymous clod (say, like me) on a weekend get-away, staff would be saying "Look, there's Mr. ----. I wonder if he would like help with that bag!" A bit later, "Oh look, there's Mr. ---- again...with another bag. I wonder what's up."

[hexola]

8. Its easy to restate his activities "in a nutshell" like that

But far harder to execute that plan in real life...

You dont "just check in" the weekend of a big multi-day festival - that was in its 4th year and building...

You start thinking of these things...18 months or so ago...maybe 2 years ago...

[ret5hd]

14. I 100% agree with you (except for the 2yr part).

Knowing the date of an event like that wouldn't be hard...
and making a reservation way in advance wouldn't be hard or suspicious.

I just don't get why some think all this took some super-genius level of planning. Or why being a casino regular would help...or hurt.

[brush]

21. I agree with your take. Nothing genius about it.

Reserve the hotel room overlooking the outdoor arena, make trips back and forth over three days to carry the broken down guns and ammo boxes in wheeled luggage up to the room from his car parked in the hotel garage.

I was just at the Mandalay Bay in August and parked my car in the garage. There are multiple entrances into the hotel and he would've aroused no suspicion.

They've located his companion. Maybe she will be able to shed some light into the killer's motive.

[Not Ruth]

33. Treated like a king by the casinos

The 64-year-old high-stakes gambler and real estate investor specifically requested an upper-floor room with a view of the music festival, according to a person who has seen hotel records turned over to investigators.
The room, which goes for 590 US dollars (£445), was given to Paddock free because he was a good customer who wagered tens of thousands of dollars each time he visited the casino, the person said.
It was just another indication of how methodically he planned the attack. Authorities have said he brought 23 weapons in 10 suitcases into the room and set up cameras inside and out to watch for police closing in on him.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4950814/Vegas-gunman-gambled-1m-year-used-cash-buy-home.html#ixzz4ud2OX7nP
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[Zoonart]

4. Yesterday afternoon...

during, I think, one of the Sheriff's briefings in Vegas, someone from the press asked if there was any truth to the rumor that the shooter was, or had been, employed by a government agency.

Hearing that question, which was quickly brushed off, made my hair stand on end.

Did anyone else hear this?

[hexola]

10. Low profile + Airplanes + Florida + Rich Enough to gamble a lot

=Drugs

CIA?

[octoberlib]

27. I never thought about drug running but it could fit.

Kept the blinds drawn, wasn't friendly with neighbors. Of course he could have just been an anti-social asshole. It's gonna be interesting to see what develops.

[LeftInTX]

35. He worked for the Post Office in the 70s

He worked for I believe Lockheed for a few years in the 80s

[hexola]

6. On a right-wing site there was a reference to "the multi-mag event"

And used it as sort of a term of war - that suggest that pro-gun people were aware of a potential impending event which would surpass a threshold of social patience with gun owners.

Not this event specifically - but clearly they had thought out the contingencies.

Yet - That doesn't suggest the right was behind it...

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. It's not hard to look at a concert schedule and plan accordingly, so I'm not clear on what else

you're saying.

[hexola]

13. the intended effect

I mentioned calculation - not the ability to pull it off...which you are still understating.

Its not "just a concert"

It was country music...and represents a specific demographic.

[customerserviceguy]

23. It would not surprise me

if his motive were to kill Trump voters. I absolutely expect Fox News to run with any sort of "evidence" of this.

[Bradical79]

32. Sounds like reckless speculation to me -nt

[bdamomma]

11. this whole event is shocking and timed very

weird, just when tRump was being put on notice by Mayor Cruz in PR, and he was lashing out and sent her 18 tweets on Saturday, maybe she hit a nerve when she told him off, and named his administration/regime as being negligent giving him a bad name (which he so deserves) this man could not care less about the US territory islands.

And this horrible event happens Sunday night??? Am I getting overly paranoid? or in a conspiracy theorist mood.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

15. Well, went ISNT Rump being called on the carpet about one thing or another? nt

[Demit]

16. Well which is it? Something that took a lot of planning beforehand, or done spur of the moment

to counteract a situation that suddenly arose? Your scenario directly contradicts the OP's.

[jmg257]

17. Completely contrary to the OP

Which talks about calculation and planning...not some knee-jerk reaction to an ass being offended.

[bearsfootball516]

18. I don't think so

9/11 was years in the making. All this took was seeing a concert was scheduled, booking a room and then carrying out the act.

[hexola]

19. Consider the Facebook numbers

They say the average Facebook user has 338 Friends

By People Killed - 19,942 affected

By People wounded - 175,760 affected

By people at the concert - 7,774,000 affected

Doesn't seem insignificant - but I didn't compare it to much else.

[inwiththenew]

20. It definitely doesn't seem to fit the mold for a number of reasons

He doesn't really fit the profile. He was an older and appears to be financially well off. Most of these shooters were younger males who often you could tell by looking at them that something was off. Plus there were usually red flags everywhere prior to the event. Now we may find them here but it doesn't appear that way at least initially.

The level of planning seems to be more thought out too. Usually it just involves a person going to a school, movie theater, place of employment, etc... where they know people will be and start shooting. There isn't days of scouting and prep at the site.

It's still early in the investigation though so who knows what we'll find out.

[Not Ruth]

22. Let's see how many times he visited surrounding hotels

Ie dry runs

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/04/rob-lowe-flew-on-911-terrorist-dry-run_n_857313.html

[Orsino]

24. 9/11 was a conspiracy by dozens, planned for many months.

Vegas? So far a lone gun nut who must have set aside a few days to prepare his killzone. Depending on the depth of his psychosis, which will never be diagnosed now, he might stretch the definition of terrorist. Was he afraid for himself, or did he want to inspire fear? I dunno.

[obamanut2012]

26. This

[obamanut2012]

25. No

Nothing a relatively intelligent person couldn't plan and pull off.

[Girard442]

28. He had been preparing for *something* for a long time.

That arsenal didn't just spring up in his backyard garden next to the cherry tomatoes. He may not have been fully committed to the idea of mass murder, but his mind had to be going there. Why else buy all those guns and spend time familiarizing himself with them?

The planning for the LV shooting could have been compressed into two or three days. And what if no suitable room was available? Well, one was. What if hotel personnel had gotten suspicious? Well, they didn't. Maybe our guy worked on all the stuff for months, but it's equally possible he just threw stuff together at the last minute and lucked out.

[TheBlackAdder]

29. The Boston Globe reports that it was thoroughly prepared.

.

Among his weapons, a law enforcement official said, were AR-15-style rifles, a civilian variant of a standard service rifle used by the US military for more than a half-century.

The possibility that Paddock used tripods, which two law enforcement officials said were in the room, indicates that he understood how to overcome some of the difficulties of his plan. Special mounts designed to fit the underside of a rifle and sit atop camera tripods allow the gunman to fire more accurately while standing. Military snipers use tripods in urban spaces, often setting themselves back from a window so neither they nor their weapons can be seen from the streets below.

These preparations, along with the downward angle of Paddock’s gunfire and the density of concertgoers, would make the shooting more lethal than it might otherwise have been, and more difficult to counter or escape.

When the gunshots started, videos showed, those in front of the stage dropped to their stomachs — often an adequate first measure when under fire. But on Sunday night, the decision potentially put them at greater risk.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/breakingnews/las-vegas-shooter-stephen-paddock-thoroughly-prepared-for-massacre/ar-AAsPWSh?li=BBnb7Kz

.

[yardwork]

31. No, but I think these conspiracy theories have an agenda behind them.

Lots of conspiracy theories being floated. Seems like people have trouble believing that a white middle aged man could be a homicidal maniac.

His father was a bank robber, diagnosed as a psychopath, FBI most wanted.

[hexola]

34. How about now?

Anyone thinking different?