Stepping up to comfort Las Vegas

Natalynn Rivis (right), a student at University of Nevada Las Vegas, takes part in a vigil on Monday in Las Vegas. A gunman on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino hotel rained automatic weapons fire down on the crowd of more thanr 20,000 at an outdoor country music festival on Sunday. Gregory Bull / AP

"I think it's worthwhile," he said of the trip. "As part of the society, you need to be responsible. This is the least I can do.

"It's impossible to ban firearms completely, but the government should conduct more strict and thorough background checks before the firearms are sold," Chin said.

Zhuang said that "the US has different laws on firearms. I understand it's difficult to change the laws, but maybe it's time the government examined the policy that allows a person to own so many guns and ammo legally."

Paddock fired on the crowd for nine minutes, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters on Tuesday, adding that investigators have identified all but three of the victims.

Federal, state and local investigators have found no evidence that Paddock had even incidental contact with foreign or domestic extremist groups, and reviews of his history show no underlying pattern of lawbreaking or hate speech, a US homeland security official said on Tuesday.

"We cannot even rule out mental illness or some form of brain damage, although there's no evidence of that, either," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the probe.

Paddock had set up multiple cameras around the hotel room from which he launched his attack, Lombardo said.

Paddock's brother, Eric, has described himself as mystified by the attack.

"It just makes less sense the more we use any kind of reason to figure it out," Eric Paddock said in a text message on Tuesday. "I will bet any amount of money that they will not find any link to anything ... he did this completely by himself."

He said the family did not plan to hold a funeral for his brother, who was not religious, saying it could attract unwanted attention. He described his brother as a fi nancially welloff enthusiast of video poker and cruises, with no history of mental health issues.

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Paddock had been "a sick man, a demented man".

Reuters contributed to this story.