NBC

Las Vegas Concert Gunman's High-Up Perch Amplified Massacre: Expert

"Shooting from such an elevated position into such a dense crowd, one would expect this carnage"

The death toll from Sunday's massacre at a country music festival in Las Vegas was especially high due to the shooter's vantage point, high above the crowd, according to an NBC News law enforcement expert.

Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, had an unobstructed view of the roughly 22,000 people at the Route 91 Harvest festival from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, making it into a sniper's perch, MSBNC law enforcement analyst Jim Cavanaugh said.

"Shooting from such an elevated position into such a dense crowd, one would expect this carnage," he said.

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said on MSNBC that the fact that Paddock opened fire from the hotel indicates he planned the shooting.

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