DENVER – A retired FBI special agent who has worked as a profiler for more than 30 years said the Las Vegas shooter doesn’t fit the typical mold for a mass shooter and doesn’t think investigators will ever find a motive.
Stephen Paddock unleashed a barrage of bullets on a country music crowd in Las Vegas Sunday night, killing 58 people and injuring more than 500 people.
In the days since the shooting, investigators have combed through the evidence, trying to determine why a wealthy, retired accountant turned into a mass shooter.
“This guy is the complete anomaly. He is the antithesis of what I expect to see when I see, regrettably see, one of these mass shootings,” said retired special agent Pete Klismet.
Klismet has spent more than 30 years analyzing unsolved crimes to try and find a motive. He’s been following developments in the shooting as new information has been released to the public.
Klismet said mass killers are typical men from their mid-twenties to late 40’s and are typically not wealthy. Klismet said Paddock breaks the mold.
“Very unusual,” said Klismet.
According to investigators, Paddock spent months planning, he scouted out various locations around the country and collected weapons in earnest since last October. Klismet said investigators will hone in on what happened in Paddock’s life before October that prompted him to start planning.
“Collecting that many weapons in my mind, over a relatively compressed period of time would raise some red flags,” said Klismet.
Klismet said there are a lot of reasons someone becomes a mass shooter, it usually stems from anger. Klismet thinks Paddock was trying to be killed by cops, as opposed to seeking notoriety.
“That’s kind of the old school ‘going out in a blaze of glory’ theory and I don’t know if I’ve ever bought that,” said Klismet. “When I look at this one and others that I’ve seen, I see more of a suicide by cop.”
In terms of finding a motive, Klismet doesn’t think investigators will ever find one.
“Will they find it? I don’t know,” said Klismet. “Given the circumstances, I don’t think they will.”
Klismet said investigators will conduct a psychological autopsy to see if the shooter suffered from mental illnesses.