UK Edition
Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock 'considered targeting Chicago music festival attended by Malia Obama'
Detectives believe the Las Vegas massacre gunman may have previously considered targeting music festivals in at least two other US cities, including one attended by Malia Obama.
They also suspect Stephen Paddock may have had help from an accomplice, and that he had an "escape plan" in place which ultimately failed.
FBI agents were reportedly seeking to identify a mystery woman seen with Paddock in the days before the mass shooting. She was believed to have been spotted with him on CCTV. His long-time girlfriend Marilou Danley had already flown to the Philippines at that point.
Paddock, 64, killed 59 people and injured nearly 500 after he opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night, unleashing an arsenal of high powered weapons from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel.
It has now been reported he booked two rooms overlooking the much bigger Lollapalooza festival in Chicago in August.
Malia Obama, former president Barack Obama's 19-year-old daughter was there and performers included the British band Muse and Liam Gallagher. Paddock never turned up to take the rooms, TMZ reported.
A Chicago police spokesman said: "We are aware of the media reports and have been in communication with our federal partners."
Paddock was said to have booked rooms at The Blackstone, a luxury hotel where heads of state including former president Jimmy Carter, and artists such as Nat King Cole and Rudolph Valentino have stayed.
Analysis of a computer found in his room at the Mandalay Bay also suggested he had researched another festival in Boston.
It suggested Paddock had been planning the massacre for months and had been living a "secret life" while he did so, police said.
In Las Vegas it emerged that Paddock used his sniper's perch to also fire at jet fuel tankers at Las Vegas airport, which was next to the country music festival.
One tank was hit but did not explode. He had broken two windows in his suite, one overlooking the festival, and the other the airport.
Paddock's escape was foiled by a heroic hotel security guard, Jesus Campos, who was first to reach room 32135, armed with only a baton.
Mr Campos was shot in the leg through the door and then miraculously survived as Paddock fired 200 bullets into the corridor.
The guard, who still has the bullet in his right leg, told ABC News: "I'm fine. I was just doing my job."
Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Paddock clearly planned to survive but declined to say why he knew that. He left no suicide note.
The sheriff said he believed an accomplice was probable, and that Paddock would need to have been a "super hero" to carry out the meticulously planned operation alone
He added: "You've got to make the assumption he had help at some point. Do you think he accomplished all this on his own? Or maybe he's a superguy who's working this all out on his own..."
Sheriff Lombardo said 50lbs of explosives and another 1,600 rounds of ammunition had been found in Paddock's parked car at the Mandalay Bay.