Homeland Security Warned about Lone Gunmen Weeks before Las Vegas Shooting

Homeland Security Warned about Lone Gunmen Weeks before Las Vegas Shooting

In an 11-page threat report, Homeland Security said "unaffiliated lone offenders" were among the top threats in the United States.

  • Oct 06, 2017

Less than two weeks before Stephen Paddock knocked out two windows on the 32nd for of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and began shooting down upon concert-goers killing 58 and injuring 500 more Homeland Security warned "unaffiliated lone offenders" were among the largest threats to large gatherings in the southern United States.

The 11-page report obtained by CNBC, said while there was no specific or credible threat cited, "we assess that unaffiliated lone offenders, homegrown violent extremists (HVEs), and domestic terrorists post the most significant near-term threat to special events and mass gathers in the United States, likely by conducting small-scale simple attacks that do not require significant planning or expertise but could still be potentially fatal and result in numerous causalities."

While Las Vegas was note cited as an area of focus by this report, which instead noted concerns around the South-Central region in states such as Texas and Oklahoma, the report shows that Homeland Security was cognizant of the looming threat of an unaffiliated shooter like Paddock.

The report stated that these kinds of offenders are "of particular concern due to their ability to remain undetected until operational, their willingness to attack civilians, soft targets and hard targets, and their ability to inflict significant casualties that do not require specialized knowledge, access or training."

At the time of the report, there was no threat to mass gatherings but the report said that Homeland Security remained concerned about "the interest of international terrorists and violent domestic extremists targeting these events."

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