The Las Vegas shooter did not simply 'snap'

Sheriff Joe Lombardo.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/Axios)

Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo admitted he was at a loss for how 64-year-old shooter Stephen Paddock could have been stopped prior to the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history on Sunday night. "I don't know how this could have been prevented," Lombardo said in a press conference Monday morning, adding: "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath."

A motive for the attack is still not clear after raids on Paddock's hotel room and home. The FBI said Paddock had "no connection" to any international terrorist group, after the Islamic State earlier in the day claimed responsibility for the attack.

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"I don't know how you stop something like that," Charles Ramsey, the former commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department, told CNN. "We have to all rethink security measures going forward."

Criminology professor James Alan Fox agreed, but stressed that Paddock did not simply "snap."

"This was a well-planned execution," Fox told CNN.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.