Timeline: Las Vegas massacre

Five days after the latest mass shooting to shock America, gun control is once again on the United States' agenda.

Follow the latest updates on the Las Vegas shooting here in local time:

Thursday, October 5:

9:40 pm

Las Vegas police say the vehicle authorities announced they were seeking shortly after the shooting was found on Tuesday in Reno.

Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said on Thursday that FBI agents serving a warrant at a home in Reno owned by the shooter, Stephen Paddock, found the Hyundai Tucson but didn't immediately share that information with Las Vegas police.

5:45 pm

An Illinois resident Greg Zanis drove over 3,000 kilometres (2,000 miles) to install 58 white crosses on the Las Vegas Strip in honour of the victims of Sunday's mass shooting.

The 66-year-old retired carpenter is known for installing the markers at other mass killings, including the Columbine and Sandy Hook school shootings and Orlando nightclub massacre.

Zanis says he's made more than 20,000 crosses after making his first 20 years ago when his father-in-law was killed.

He plans to keep the tribute up for 40 days before giving the crosses to the families of the victims.

3:30 pm

President Donald Trump says his administration is considering whether "bump stock" devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to perform more like fully automatic weapons should be banned in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre.

"We'll be looking into that over the next short period of time," said Trump

The National Rifle Association has said the devices should be "subject to additional regulations." And House Speaker Paul Ryan says a ban is "clearly something we need to look into."

2:25 pm

Investigators are looking into whether Paddock scoped out bigger music festivals in Las Vegas and Chicago and possibly Boston's Fenway Park before setting up his casino sniper's perch.

Authorities reconstructing Paddock's movements say he booked rooms overlooking the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago in August and the Life Is Beautiful show near the Vegas Strip in late September.

It was not clear if he contemplated massacres at those sites.

2:10 pm

A US official says investigators are looking into the possibility the Las Vegas shooter planned additional attacks, including a car bombing.

The official stressed the information was preliminary and investigators haven't uncovered any solid evidence yet.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo says it appeared Stephen Paddock had planned to survive Sunday's attack and had an escape plan. Lombardo said Paddock had 1,600 rounds of ammunition in his car, along with fertiliser that can be used to make explosives and 50 pounds of Tannerite, an explosive substance.

12:20 pm

Authorities say they are beefing up security for Sunday's Chicago Marathon following reports the Las Vegas shooter booked a Chicago hotel room during the weekend of a major music festival held across the street.

Chicago Police Bureau of Organized Crime Chief Anthony Riccio said Thursday that there would be "significantly" more undercover officers working the marathon than in years past.

Riccio says the undercover officers assigned to the marathon "are going to be intermingling with the crowd, they're going to be around runners, they're going to be at the finish line, they're going to be at the start line."

11: 32 am

The National Rifle Association (NRA) says the "bump stocks" device that the Las Vegas shooter used to turn semi-automatic rifles into fully automated weapons should be "subject to additional regulations."

In a statement on Thursday, the NRA says the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives should immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law.

"Banning guns from law-abiding Americans based on the criminal act of a madman will do nothing to prevent future attacks."

The statement came from NRA leaders Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox.

11:30 am

Presidential spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Thursday that Trump welcomes a review of US policy on so-called bump stock devices that legally make semi-automatic rifles into faster-firing automatic weapons.

10:50 am

A law enforcement official says Paddock booked a room at Chicago's downtown Blackstone Hotel in August.

A spokeswoman for the Blackstone Hotel, Emmy Carragher, says a person with the name Stephen Paddock reserved a room but never checked in.

The hotel overlooks Grant Park where the Lollapalooza festival is held each year and is attended by hundreds of thousands of people.

10:20 a.m.

Boston's police commissioner William Evans said on Thursday he will contact federal investigators about a report that the Las Vegas shooter researched locations in Boston.

Evans said he could not confirm the report and had not been briefed on the matter.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker also says he's aware of the reports but could not discuss them because of the ongoing investigation into the mass shooting.

Baker adds that police officials based in Boston are "fully plugged in" to the investigation and are in contact with Las Vegas authorities.

9:25 am

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan says he's open to considering a possible ban on bump stocks.

In an interview with MSNBC that aired on Thursday, Ryan said it's "clearly something we need to look into."

The comments from lawmakers including No. 2 Senate Republican John Cornyn of Texas mark a surprising departure from the GOP's general antipathy to gun regulations of any kind.

7:53 am

TMZ reports that Paddock booked a room at a Blackstone Hotel in Chicago two months before Sunday's shooting. The room overlooks a park where the Lollapalooza music festival was held that weekend, a law enforcement official said on Thursday.

The official said law enforcement found no evidence that Paddock ever came to Chicago during the weekend of Lollapalooza – a music festival that attracts hundreds of thousands of people. 

Wednesday, October 4:

5:30 pm

Authorities say shooter had 1,600 rounds of ammunition and several containers of an explosive commonly used in target shooting totalling 50 pounds in his car.

Sheriff Lombardo told reporters that he didn't know what Paddock was planning with the explosives, if anything.

Lombardo also said none of the cameras Paddock put up in the hotel room where he unleashed gunfire onto a concert crowd were recording. Authorities say he set up cameras in the peephole of the door and outside the room to watch for police closing in on him.

The sheriff also gave a timeline of the shooting. The first shots began at 10:05 pm Sunday and ended 10 minutes later.

3:50 pm

An attorney for Paddock's girlfriend says she had no knowledge of any plans by him to commit a massacre.

Marilou Danley's lawyer Matthew Lombard spoke in Los Angeles after Danley met with FBI agents to discuss Sunday's massacre. He said  she plans to cooperate fully with the investigation.

Danley says Paddock found her a cheap ticket to the Philippines and wanted her to take a trip home to see relatives, and wired her money while she was there to buy a house for herself and her family.

The statement says she worried that Paddock wanted to break up with her.

She added that "it never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone."

1:00 pm

Trump tells the people of Las Vegas that the nation stands with them to help bear the pain after the shooting. "We stand together to help you carry your pain."

He says at the city's Metropolitan Police headquarters that, "Our souls are stricken with grief for every American who lost someone in Sunday night's shooting." He added, "We will struggle through it together."

12:30 pm

Trump says first responders should be proud of the way they responded to the mass shooting on Sunday night in Las Vegas.

At Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Headquarters, Trump said, "You showed the world, and the world is watching." Trump and his wife, Melania, were meeting with victims, doctors, police, dispatchers and others who responded to the shooting.

Earlier, Trump said the meetings and the response made him "proud to be an American."

12:08 pm

Trump says he met "some of the most amazing people" during a visit to a hospital where victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas are being treated.

And he says he's invited some of those survivors to the White House.

Trump met privately with people injured in Sunday's shooting and also met with family members and hospital staff.

He says he wants to "congratulate everybody" at the hospital and says it's "incredible" what doctors have done.

Tuesday, October 3:

9:06 pm

A law enforcement official says Danley arrived in the US and was met by federal agents at the airport.

The official wasn't authorised to publicly discuss the matter and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

6:50 pm

Authorities have released police body-camera video that showed the chaos of the Las Vegas mass shooting as officers tried to figure out the location of the gunman and shuttle people to safety.

Amid sirens and volleys of gunfire, people yelled, "They're shooting right at us," while officers shouted, "Go that way!" Officials played the video at a news conference on Tuesday.

6:25 pm

Authorities say the Las Vegas shooter put a camera inside the peephole of his hotel room to see down the hallway as he opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers.

Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said Paddock fired on and off for nine to 11 minutes and unleashed a dozen or so volleys. He says the first call about shots fired came in at 10:08 pm Sunday and the gunfire stopped at 10:19 pm.

6:20 pm

Federal officials say the Las Vegas shooter had devices attached to 12 weapons that allow semiautomatic rifles to mimic fully automatic gunfire.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Special Agent in Charge Jill Schneider also told reporters Tuesday that Paddock had nearly 50 guns in three locations.

She said he had a combination of rifles, shotguns and pistols.

4:30 pm

A US official says shooter Paddock had reported at least a dozen gambling transactions of $10,000 or more in the past several weeks.

Paddock had also transferred $100,000 to the Philippines in the days before the attack.

The official said investigators were still attempting to trace the money that appeared to be intended for his girlfriend.

The offical also said investigators were focusing more attention on what the girlfriend of Paddock may have known about the attack.

Federal investigators are expected to question Danley when she returns to the US on Wednesday.

2:15 pm

MGM Resorts International, owner of Mandalay Bay Hotel on Tuesday announced that it was donating $3 million to help victims of the shooting in Las Vegas.

Mandalay Bay chief executive officer Jim Murren said in a statement the company hoped the donation would make a difference to those who were harmed and those left behind.

2:00 pm

Authorities say the gunman in the Las Vegas shooting put a camera in a food service cart outside his hotel room.

Lombardo also said at a news conference on Tuesday that he believes Paddock had set up cameras inside and outside his room to see if anyone was coming to take him into custody. He did not release further details.

9:44 am

More than a dozen investigators, most wearing jackets marked FBI and all in blue protective booties, arrived in unmarked sedans and entered the concert site on Tuesday to pick through the scene for clues.

6:15 am

Trump calls the gunman Paddock a "very, very sick individual."

Trump spoke to reporters Tuesday as he departed for a trip to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. He called the gunman "demented" and said "we're looking into him very seriously."

Trump also praised Las Vegas police, saying they had done an "incredible job."

Trump stressed that the shooting was a tragedy. Asked about gun laws, the president said "we'll be talking about gun laws as time goes by."

4:45 am

Headliner Jason Aldean took to social media to speak to fans a day after the Las Vegas shooting happened during his set.

Aldean wrote on Twitter and Instagram that his "heart aches for the victims and their families."

Monday, October 2:

7:00 pm

Americans from all over the country, including Las Vegas residents, held vigils in support of the victims and families of those affected by the shooting. 

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman spoke to mourners in the setting sun Monday evening outside the downtown City Hall.

3:35 pm

Lombardo says several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives, was found in the car belonging to Paddock.

Lombardo also says investigators still want to talk to the girlfriend of the shooter. He says she will be interviewed when she returns from an overseas trip.

At the time of writing, there are still more questions than answers about the incident.

3:05 pm

Lombardo says investigators found 18 firearms, explosives and several thousand rounds of ammunition in Paddock's home.

2:05 pm

More than 12 hours after the shooting, officials were still loading bodies into vans to remove them from the scene.

12:41 pm

Former president Barack Obama and his wife expressed their condolences over the shooting.

12:25 pm

Former US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, release a statement saying that Congress must pass legislation to keep deadly weapons out of the wrong hands.

Giffords survived an assassination attempt in 2011. 

10:54 am

Trump makes a statement calling the mass shooting attack in Las Vegas "an act of pure evil." Trump says the nation is joined together today in sadness, shock and grief.

The president says he will be visit Las Vegas on Wednesday, October 3. 

10:11 am

Authorities say they're no longer looking for the woman who police believe was a companion to Paddock. Police say they've located her and determined she wasn't involved in the mass shooting, as she has been out of the country.

8:50 am

The FBI says the shooter had no connection to an international terrorist group at a news conference after Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack without providing evidence.

8:44 am

Lombardo says the death toll from the Las Vegas shooting has risen to 58, with 515 people injured.

6:30 am

The brother of the shooter Paddock says he's "completely dumbfounded" by the shooting.

In a brief interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Eric Paddock says he can't understand what happened. He also said he's made a statement to the police.

6:07 am

Las Vegas police said on Monday morning that the shooter was found dead in a hotel room with as many as 10 firearms.

Authorities say that 406 people were taken to hospitals and 50 of those are dead. 

Lombardo says Paddock first checked into the Mandalay Bay Hotel on September 28 and was found dead inside a hotel room.

5:55 am

In Washington, a Homeland Security spokesman, David Lapan, tweeted on Monday the department that there were no other credible threats present. 

5:45 am

Heavily armed police search the Nevada retirement-community home of the shooter.

Mesquite Police Chief Troy Tanner says police surrounded and entered the single-family home where Paddock lived with Danley early on Monday morning.

He says Danley was not at the house and police saw "no movement" inside.

5:15 am

Las Vegas police say they've determined that a woman they were seeking is no longer considered a "person of interest."

Police say they don't believe Danley was involved. The police initially said they were seeking the woman who may have been the roommate of the shooter.

4:30 am

Trump tweets condolences to the victims of the shooting in Las Vegas and their families.

3:30 am

Lombardo says the death toll has climbed to 50 and more than 200 people were wounded at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Strip.

Authorities identify the suspected gunman. Paddock killed himself after the shooting. Police have yet to determine a motive.

Authorities say they have located Danley, who was wanted as a person of interest in this incident.

1:40 am

Las Vegas authorities say more than 20 people are dead and 100 people are wounded.

Sheriff Lombardo says officers confronted the suspect on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel across the street from the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. 

Authorities say the man is dead. They did not release the suspect's name but said he is a local resident.

Lombardo said they believe this was a "lone wolf" attack but said they are looking for a roommate of the dead suspect as a person of interest.

12:05 am

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said 26 people were admitted to the hospital.

Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15.

Sunday, October 1:

11:58 pm

Two hours after the shooting began the Las Vegas police tweeted that a suspect in the shooting was "down," but still advised people to stay away from the Las Vegas Strip.

6:07 am

Las Vegas police said on Monday morning that the shooter was found dead in a hotel room with as many as 10 firearms.

Authorities say that 406 people were taken to hospitals and 50 of those are dead. 

Lombardo says Paddock first checked into the Mandalay Bay Hotel on September 28 and was found dead inside a hotel room.

5:55 am

In Washington, a Homeland Security spokesman, David Lapan, tweeted on Monday the department that there were no other credible threats present. 

10:08 pm

"We got shots fired!" a Las Vegas police officer radioed in at 10:08pm. "It sounded like an automatic firearm."

"I'm pretty sure a terrorist attack just happened next to me. I'm at Mandalay Bay,” Las Vegas user @GLOKMIN tweeted early on in the assault.

10:07 pm 

Sounds of gunfire are heard during country music singer Jason Aldean's guitar solo at an outdoor concert in front of thousands.