The Las Vegas gunman chose a terrifying vantage point 3
Stephen Paddock
Stephen Paddock  fired hundreds of rounds out of a 32nd story window in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sunday night  police have said  killing 59 and injuring over 500 in the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.
 Paddock  had no military training. According to Paddockâs family and the ongoing police investigation   he  had a penchant for guns and some experience hunting. But there is no indication  he  had formal training.
Nevertheless   he  managed to kill dozens and wound hundreds from 32 stories above the ground and a distance of three to five football fields between  him  and  his  victims.
The reason  he  was able to carry out the massacre lies largely with the tools at  his  disposal and the completely helpless nature of  his  targets.
Some of the weapons had scopes to increase  his  effective range. The length of the bursts of fire suggest  Paddock  likely used extended magazines to store many times a firearmâs normal capacity in ammunition.
All of Paddockâs guns legally belonged to him. Nevada  where  Paddock  lived  allows the sale of high-capacity magazines  high-caliber weapons and ammunition  and military-style weapons  but it doesnât allow fully automatic weapons.
 Paddock  got around the limitation of government-mandated semi-automatic weapons by using something called a âbump stock â which effectively turns a semi-automatic rifle into an automatic  according to The Associated Press.
From 300 to 500 yards away  the crowd of 22 000 were essentially âfish in the barrel â which is how country singer Jake Owens  who was on stage in Las Vegas  described that night. It wouldnât take a military operative or master marksman to inflict grievous damage on a crowd with the tools  Paddock  had available.
 Paddock  simply rained down bullets on an unsuspecting crowd that was focused on the stage. Because bullets from high-powered rifles travel at supersonic speeds  the first shots probably hit the victims before the sound of the rifle even rang out.
[TGT] fired hundreds of rounds out of a 32nd story window in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sunday night  police have said  killing 59 and injuring over 500 in the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.
  [TGT] had no military training. According to Paddockâs family and the ongoing police investigation    [TGT]   had a penchant for guns and some experience hunting. But there is no indication   [TGT]   had formal training.
Nevertheless    [TGT]   managed to kill dozens and wound hundreds from 32 stories above the ground and a distance of three to five football fields between  him  and  his  victims.
The reason  he  was able to carry out the massacre lies largely with the tools at  his  disposal and the completely helpless nature of  his  targets.
Some of the weapons had scopes to increase  his  effective range. The length of the bursts of fire suggest  Paddock  likely used extended magazines to store many times a firearmâs normal capacity in ammunition.
All of Paddockâs guns legally belonged to him. Nevada  where  Paddock  lived  allows the sale of high-capacity magazines  high-caliber weapons and ammunition  and military-style weapons  but it doesnât allow fully automatic weapons.
 Paddock  got around the limitation of government-mandated semi-automatic weapons by using something called a âbump stock â which effectively turns a semi-automatic rifle into an automatic  according to The Associated Press.
From 300 to 500 yards away  the crowd of 22 000 were essentially âfish in the barrel â which is how country singer Jake Owens  who was on stage in Las Vegas  described that night. It wouldnât take a military operative or master marksman to inflict grievous damage on a crowd with the tools  Paddock  had available.
 Paddock  simply rained down bullets on an unsuspecting crowd that was focused on the stage. Because bullets from high-powered rifles travel at supersonic speeds  the first shots probably hit the victims before the sound of the rifle even rang out.