Las Vegas Shooting: Chance The Rapper Concert Might Have Been Original Target

LAS VEGAS, NV — An earlier Las Vegas concert headlined by Chance the Rapper might have been the original target of the mass shooter who opened fire on a country music festival Sunday, a senior law enforcement source told the Daily Beast Tuesday. At least 59 people were killed and more than 500 wounded when Stephen Paddock fired on the Route 91 Harvest Festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

After Paddock fatally shot himself as police stormed his hotel room, authorities seized 23 firearms from the site. Several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a material used for making homemade explosives, were discovered in the gunman's car.

According to a law enforcement source familiar with the shooting investigation but not part of it, Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, had rented several downtown Las Vegas condos that looked out at this year's Life Is Beautiful Festival. An annual music, food and art event, it ran this year from Sept. 22-24 and covered 18 city blocks, according to a Daily Beast report. South Side native Chance the Rapper was one of the festival's performers, along with 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Haim, Gorillaz, Cage the Elephant, Lorde, blink-182, Muse and De La Soul.

Started in 2013, Life Is Beautiful had an attendance of 137,350 people during its three-day run in 2016, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Paddock's reasons for renting the condos during the earlier event and targeting the later Route 91 Harvest Festival, which had a crowd of 20,000, are unclear. The Daily Beast source said Paddock might simply have changed his mind. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Chicago — or your neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

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After Las Vegas Shooting, Security At Concerts Comes Under Scrutiny: Las Vegas' tragic mass shooting presented a unique problem when it comes to securing public event spaces.

Heroes Shine In City’s Darkest Hour: Ordinary citizens stepped up to save strangers as a gunman pelted them with bullets at a music festival in Las Vegas Sunday.

Raw Videos Capture Moments As Carnage Unfolded: Nearly 60 people were killed and more than 500 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history in Las Vegas.

Stephen Paddock, Las Vegas Mass Shooter, Was Armed To The Teeth: The gunman in the attack that killed at least 59 and wounded 515 was a high-stakes professional gambler, a pilot and son of a bank robber.

Where To Donate Blood, Fundraiser For Victims, Information For Families: Authorities in Las Vegas are sharing information on where to donate blood and what number family members can call to ask for information.

More via the Daily Beast

Chance the Rapper performs at The Budweiser Made In America Festival in Philadelphia in September of 2016. (photo by Michael Zorn | Invision | Associated Press)

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