Las Vegas Sheriff Reveals Potential 'Determining Factor' in Shooting

Domestic terrorist Stephen Paddock's motive for the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting is still not fully understood, but police think they may have picked up on a key factor.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who has been the department's primary communicator to the public, recently told Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS-TV that they have theorized what a "determining factor" behind the shooting could have been.

Paddock, a regular high-stakes gambler, had apparently lost a "significant amount of wealth" since September 2015. This is said led to him going through "bouts of depression," which could have led him to commit his crimes.

Up Next: Las Vegas Shooter's Girlfriend May Know More, Sheriff Suggests

"This individual was status-driven, based on how he liked to be recognized in the casino environment and how he liked to be recognized by his friends and family," Lombardo said. "So, obviously, that was starting to decline in the short period of time, and that may have had a determining effect on why he did what he did."

This motive is still not concrete, as investigators are still pouring through everything tied to Paddock in order to figure out why this all happened.

The assailant killed 58 people and himself during the attack carried out from a high-rise suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. More than 500 others were also injured during the mass shooting.

Mental health issues have been previously theorized as the main factor in the shooting by experts such as criminal profiler John Kelly.

"What would drive somebody that is so methodical and structured in life to go insane in a very structured and methodical way?" Kelly said. "Paddock was a pathological gambler, psychopath and a sociopath. He was predisposed from birth and childhood to harbor extreme internalized shame, low self-esteem, depression, and aggressive anger."