(MENAFN- Gulf Times) US Vice-President Mike Pence visited Las Vegas on Saturday stressing unity and offering solace as police appealed to the public for help in uncovering a wealthy retiree's motive for massacring 58 people at an outdoor concert this week.
'We are united in our grief, in our support for those who have suffered and united in our resolve to end such evil in our time, Pence said, joining Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and other local leaders at a City Hall commemoration for victims of the shooting.
Participants trod seven miles (11km) along four separate paths to the event amid tight security.
President Donald Trump paid a visit to Las Vegas earlier in the week.
Las Vegas' Democratic Congresswoman Dina Titus was the only speaker who touched on the subject of gun violence and politics, saying: 'Let us also pray for those who have power that they will have the wisdom, the courage, and the resolve to find ways to end the gun violence that plagues our nation.
The commemoration came as Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said investigators remain largely in the dark about what drove retired real estate investor and high-stakes gambler Stephen Paddock to carry out the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
'We have looked at everything, literally, to include the suspect's personal life, any political affiliation, his social behaviours, economic situation, any potential radicalisation, McMahill told reporters late on Friday. 'We have been down each and every single one of these paths, trying to determine why, to determine who else may have known of these plans.
McMahill said investigators had uncovered 'no nexus between the Islamic State (IS) group and Paddock, even though the militant group had repeatedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
A piece of paper found in Paddock's room at the Mandalay Bay hotel appeared to calculate the distance and height from his window to help target victims below, the CBS News show 60 Minutes said in a news release on Saturday ahead of a broadcast of interviews with Clark County Sheriff's officers, including one who said he saw the paper.
The Sheriff's Office could not be immediately reached for comment.
Police have stressed that no suicide note had been found.
In an unusual bid to cast a wider net for tips, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and police have arranged with communications company Clear Channel to post billboards around Las Vegas urging citizens to come forward with any information that might help investigators.
The billboards will bear the slogan, 'If you know something, say something, and carry a toll-free number to an FBI hotline, said Aaron Rouse, special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office.
Paddock, 64, unleashed a torrent of gunfire onto an outdoor music festival from the windows of his 32nd-floor hotel suite overlooking the concert on the night of October 1, then shot himself to death before police stormed his room.
In addition to the 58 people who died, nearly 500 were injured, some by gunfire and some trampled or otherwise hurt while running for cover.
Unlike so many other perpetrators of deadly mass shootings before him, Paddock left behind no suicide note, no manifesto, no recordings and no messages on social media pointing to his intent, according to police.
McMahill said investigators remained certain Paddock acted alone in the shooting.
But police have said they suspect he had help before the killings, based on the large number of guns, ammunition and explosives found in the hotel suite, his home, his car and a second home searched in Reno.
Authorities have said that 12 of the weapons recovered from Paddock's hotel suite were equipped with so-called bump-stock devices that enable semi-automatic rifles to be operated as if they were fully automatic machine-guns.
Paddock's ability to fire hundreds of rounds per minute over the course of his 10-minute shooting spree was a major factor in the high casualty count, police said.
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