@bigheadfred @Smokin Joe @Sanguine
I confess I am like a dog with a bone about this case. Very strange.
The point that the authorities claim he acted alone yet will release none of the information requested is well-taken.
It does seem as if such an announcement is intended to let any accomplices breathe easier and come up for air, possibly outing themselves.
As far as the Valium goes, if he had one prescription and had most of the pills left (as I have read), I doubt it is a factor.
Anyone who can wire 100 large somewhere can get anything they want. The Valium likely don;t mean much in the grand scheme of things. I will wait for tox.
It does look like he has a chest wound, but I read that he was shot in the mouth with no details about how much damage there was to the brain tissue. Stanford has the brain and the studies will take weeks.
If the brain is intact, sectioning should be a simpler matter. if not, tissue samples might still show gross abnormalities upon microscopic examination, but if the tissue wasn't destroyed in a head shot, it will suffer damage, and not be so neat as if the brain was intact. It may be more difficult to try and put that back together again to see the location of any specific biological abnormality.
Why haven't they released an inventory from the search warrants? In the early days, it was reported that he had several phones, computers, and other electronic devices. Did they take his houses apart, looking for hidden evidence? Did he livestream the massacre overseas?
Curious, but that may indicate the possible presence or even identity of anyone else involved. If they are using the lone wolf thing as a smokescreen, and trying to let accomplices come up for air, releasing that information--especially if there are definite indicators of others involved--would set the usual sites abuzz with talk about the second shooter and they'd go underground with a vengeance. My thoughts are that he did not or was not planning to (at least) act alone. I'm not saying he couldn't have acted alone, it just seems he had stocked up for a bigger party.
They are still interviewing the girlfriend. Sheriff said he thinks she has to know something.
Good.
The thing that bothers me the most is the statement after twelve hours in that this was not terrorism and they may never know the motive. Why did they put that out there- giving up before they started?
Standard announcement. 'Nuttin' to see here, move along please'. Besides, Terrorism could be bad for business. Especially when the FBI is involved. Some whackjob could go shoot up a mall yelling about that 'snackbar', detonate his bomb vest after planting an ISIS flag in the ficus tree, and the FBI would say it wasn't terrorism.
The leaked photos are being investigated but again, they may never know how they leaked per the sheriff.
I think the FBI is in charge and they are only telling the sheriff a limited amount, letting him take the heat with the public.
I think there are several factors at play, but behind it all is the FBI pulling strings.
Reason one: Terror is bad for business.
Just as if Flight 800 (FBI took over, pushing the NTSB aside, who usually do plane crashes) was shown to be a missile, the airline industry would have dropped way off. (Likely why the FBI interviewed zero of the ~140 people who saw something going up before the plane went down, and why the journalists who managed to obtain swatches of fabric from the plane contaminated with PETN were prosecuted and jailed.)
Reason Two: some guy commits a crime of this magnitude and no one saw anything? Which leaves people questioning the efficacy of all the surveillance being conducted on Americans in the name of counterterrorism. It also calls to question security protocols at the MGM resorts, specifically Mandalay Bay, and opens a liability window for lawsuits. I think a lot of the timeline and the interview with Ellen (also a MGM 'property') were designed to discourage such suits. I am not sure what the window is for filing suit in such a case, but they may be running out that clock.
Reason three, and time for tinfoil. The FBI was running a sting and it got away from them.
Either this guy did act alone, for no apparent reason, amassing his weapons for a year, planning and executing without raising red flags anywhere- or-the FBI know this is part of something much bigger and darker. But they won't tell us.
No argument here.
