Vegas gunman's girlfriend denies knowledge of massacre

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Marilou Danley, the girlfriend of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Wednesday and said through a lawyer she had no idea beforehand that he was “planning violence against anyone.”

Danley said the carnage unleashed by Stephen Paddock while she was abroad caught her completely unaware. At the time of the shooting, she was visiting family in the Philippines and only returned to the US on Tuesday, where she is currently considered a "Person of interest."

“He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of that I understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to happen,” Danley, 62, said in a written statement read to reporters by her attorney in Los Angeles, where she was being questioned.

Image of Marilou Danley, released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, in connection to a shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, US, October 2, 2017. /Photo via Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

“It never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone,” she added.

Her lawyer, Matt Lombard, said he and his client were “fully cooperating” with the FBI and Las Vegas police.

He took his own life before police stormed his room, where they found as many as 23 guns, bringing the total death toll to 59.

More than 500 people were injured, some trampled in the pandemonium, when Paddock, 64, strafed an outdoor concert with gunfire on Sunday night from his 32nd-floor suite of the Mandalay Bay hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.

Twelve of his rifles were fitted with so-called bump stocks, officials said, allowing the guns to be fired almost as though they were automatic weapons.

Investigators have focused on Danley, an Australian citizen who had shared his retirement community condo in Mesquite, Nevada, northeast of Las Vegas, before leaving the United States for the Philippines on September 15.

Stephen Paddock, 64, the gunman who attacked the Route 91 Harvest music festival in a mass shooting in Las Vegas, is seen in an undated social media photo obtained by Reuters on October 3, 2017. /Handout via Reuters

FBI agents met her plane from Manila at Los Angeles International Airport and took her away for questioning, two US officials briefed on the case told Reuters.

As of midday Wednesday, there was no indication she was aware of Paddock’s plans, the officials said.

Investigators questioned her about Paddock’s weapons purchases, a wire transfer of 100,000 US dollars to a Philippine bank that they think may have been intended for her, and about whether she saw any changes in his behavior before she left the United States.

“Assuming she had no role in his actions, the most important thing is any light she can shed on Paddock’s motive,” said one official, who spoke about the continuing investigation only on condition of anonymity.

Danley said in her statement that Paddock had bought her an airline ticket to visit family in the Philippines and wired her money to purchase property there, and that she thought he might be planning to break up with her.

Trump avoids gun talk in Las Vegas

US President Donald Trump visited Las Vegas on Wednesday to pay his respects and support first responders, marking the first time since taking office that he has had to confront a major mass shooting of the type that has killed hundreds of people in recent years in the United States.

US President Donald Trump speaks next to first lady Melania Trump after meeting with police at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, October 4, 2017. /Reuters Photo‍

Trump and first lady Melania traveled to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada for a private visit with patients and medical professionals. He had met "some of the most amazing people" and invited them to come visit him at the White House.

The president brushed aside a reporter's question about whether the country has "gun violence problem."

"We're not going to talk about that today," said Trump, who won the support of the National Rifle Association in last year's presidential campaign.

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Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency