CHICAGO — Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas gunman, booked two rooms in a hotel overlooking Chicago’s massive Lollapalooza music festival two months before Sunday night’s massacre, TMZ reported Thursday.
Paddock booked a room at the Blackstone Hotel on Aug. 1 and another on Aug. 3. Both rooms had a checkout date of Aug. 6, when Lollapalooza ended.
The hotel is located across the street from the music festival’s venue that can accommodate tens of thousands of people.
Malia Obama, the daughter of former President Barack Obama, was seen at the festival this year.
TMZ reported that Paddock had never booked a hotel room and didn’t show up for his reservations.
“We are aware of the media reports and have been in communication with our federal partners,” Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.
“As you saw earlier this week the city conducts extensive public safety planning and training around major events, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, to ensure public safety.”
Paddock fired shots into a crowd of about 22,000 at the Route 91 Harvest music festival from his 32nd-floor suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and wounding 527.