According to autopsy reports obtained by the Las Vegas Review Journal on Friday, domestic terrorist Stephen Paddock had anti-anxiety medication in his system at the time of death.
While further autopsy results provide no clues into what contributed to Paddock’s motives in the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting, toxicology and brain examination found the 64-year-old had anti-anxiety medication in his system.
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Amounts of nordiazepam, oxazepan and temazepan, which are consistent with the anti-anxiety drug Valium, were discovered in his urine. However, there was no evidence in the results of substances associated with alcohol.
The results also confirmed what authorities had previously stated, that Paddock died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head after opening fire at the outdoor country music concert from his 32nd-floor Mandalay Bay suite.
Upon learning the results on Friday, Paddock’s brother Eric told the Las Vegas Review Journal that there are “no physical excuses for what Steve did.”
“We may never understand why Steve did this,” Eric said.
Examination shows the bullet that killed Paddock “entered the roof of his mouth and traveled to the back of his head and then upward without exiting his body, leaving fractured bones along the way.”
It was reported also that Paddock had scrapes on his right upper calf and knee and a bruise on his left calf.
Separate examinations on his brain conducted by researchers at Stanford University found no major abnormalities, nor evidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
ABC News reported last fall that law enforcement officials discovered Paddock had severe mental illness that was likely undiagnosed.
Sources told the news agency that the portrait constructed from interviews with hundreds of people interviewed over the past week shows Paddock, though financially successful, had difficulty interacting with people. Described as standoff-ish and disconnected, he was a man who had difficulty establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships.
On Oct. 1, 2017, Paddock opened fire on more than 20,000 Route 91 Harvest festival concertgoers from his hotel suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and injuring 500 more.
While the motive for the shooting remains unclear even with the results from his autopsy, police have said it was “obviously premeditated.”
Earlier this month, Arizona ammunition dealer Douglas Haig, 55, was charged with manufacturing illegal armor-piercing bullets after police discovered he sold 720 to Paddock. According to The New York Times, the ammunition dealer’s fingerprints were found on unused ammunition found inside the room of the 32nd floor. He did not have the license required to make such bullets, thus bringing charges forward.
