Uploaded March 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
A familiar pattern often emerges as the authorities investigate a mass shooting: speculation in online forums that one person couldn’t have possibly committed this act alone.
Law enforcement officials have stated multiple times that, at this point, they believe that Stephen Paddock, who killed at least 58 and himself and wounded hundreds on Sunday night in Las Vegas, was the only gunman. (Still, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday that “it was troublesome that he was able to move this much gear into the hotel unassisted.”)
Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department explicitly addressed the issue on Monday night: “I want to emphasize we believe Paddock is solely responsible for this heinous act. We are aware of the rumors outside of the media and also on social media that there was more than one assailant. We have no information or evidence to support that theory or that rumor. We believe there was only one shooter and that was Stephen Paddock.”
A History of Speculation
Similar rumor mongering has emerged in the wake of previous mass shootings.
The morning after a gunman opened fire at a nightclub in Orlando, the police dispelled the rumor that he had accomplices. Some falsely believe the Sandy Hook shooting was staged and seized upon a mysterious “man in the woods” as proof of an additional conspirator. The man was searching for his
READ THE REST @nytimes.com/2017/10/04/us/politics/fact-check-vegas-gunman.html
A familiar pattern often emerges as the authorities investigate a mass shooting: speculation in online forums that one person couldn’t have possibly committed this act alone.
Law enforcement officials have stated multiple times that, at this point, they believe that Stephen Paddock, who killed at least 58 and himself and wounded hundreds on Sunday night in Las Vegas, was the only gunman. (Still, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday that “it was troublesome that he was able to move this much gear into the hotel unassisted.”)
Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department explicitly addressed the issue on Monday night: “I want to emphasize we believe Paddock is solely responsible for this heinous act. We are aware of the rumors outside of the media and also on social media that there was more than one assailant. We have no information or evidence to support that theory or that rumor. We believe there was only one shooter and that was Stephen Paddock.”
A History of Speculation
Similar rumor mongering has emerged in the wake of previous mass shootings.
The morning after a gunman opened fire at a nightclub in Orlando, the police dispelled the rumor that he had accomplices. Some falsely believe the Sandy Hook shooting was staged and seized upon a mysterious “man in the woods” as proof of an additional conspirator. The man was searching for his
READ THE REST @nytimes.com/2017/10/04/us/politics/fact-check-vegas-gunman.html
