The Las Vegas shooter did not simply 'snap'

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."

At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 people injured when Paddock fired down on a crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival from the vantage of his 32nd-story hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. While the concert itself had ample security, Paddock managed to sneak at least 10 rifles into his hotel room.

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"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.