US shooter's girlfriend returns to US from Philippines

Marilou Danley flew out of Manila's international airport on Tuesday night for Los Angeles.

The Las Vegas shooter’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, arrived in the US on Wednesday morning from the Philippines, where she received $100,000 (Dh367,300) from the shooter, Stephen Paddock, before he killed 58 people.

Ms Danley, 62, is considered a “person of interest” and wanted for questioning by the FBI, but not necessarily a suspect. According to authorities in Manila, she was in the Philippines when Paddock opened fire with high-power rifles at concertgoers on the Las Vegas Strip from a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

The Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said the FBI, its US counterpart, had sought help in finding Ms Danley.

"Danley arrived in the Philippines last month, and then there was a wire transfer to her account for $100,000 from Stephen," NBI spokesman Nick Suarez told AFP. "The FBI has co-ordinated with the Philippine office of the Interpol to look for her."

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Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump is preparing to visit Las Vegas on Wednesday, branding the shooter as “demented”.

Paddock, a 64-year-old gambler and retired accountant, killed 58 people and injured at least 527 others when he used a vast arsenal of weapons to shoot at a Las Vegas concert from a hotel room on Sunday.

Ms Danley is an Australian citizen who moved to the United States 20 years ago to work on the casino strip, the Australian government confirmed on Tuesday.

"There are reports her ID was used for booking the hotel or some such detail," Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop said.

"Australia will support the US authorities in their investigation in whatever way we can, but we have not had contact with Marilou Danley directly."

Media reports said Ms Danley was born in the Philippines, although the Philippine foreign department and Mr Suarez said they could not confirm that.

Paddock killed himself after mowing down the concertgoers.

Shooter stopped in 11 minutes

Undersheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas police said officers stopped the shooter just 11 minutes after the first 911 call.

Police were alerted to a shooter at 10.08pm on Sunday night, and the shooting stopped at around 10:19pm.

Police also said that they recovered 47 firearms in total from Paddock's hotel room and home in Nevada. He purchased them in Nevada, Utah, California, and Texas.

There were 12 Bump-fire stocks on the firearms, modifying 12 of his semi-automatic weapons to fire much more rapidly at up to 800 rounds per minute.

* Additional reporting by Josh Boswell and Agence France-Presse