Out here in mid-Pacific, I've been reading about the shooter in Las Vegas. What he did is clear, why he did it is not.
Apparently the man had no very well known hobby-horses, no axes to grind. He was a gambler, had made quite a lot of money in his life, and was no ideologue, as far as any acquaintances or neighbors were aware.
No Facebook rants or Youtube videos have turned up so far. If he had literature tying him to an angry movement we've not learned of it. And it's almost certain he knew none of those killed or injured.
The shooter was a planner; this was no spur of the moment 'lark.' He knew of the concert, selected a room with a view thereof, gradually ferried a number of weapons, tripods and much ammunition to that room, and was tapped into a video camera array giving him advanced notice of the arrival of police.
I'm going to guess at a motive, and let's be clear, it's one of those "what's left when you've discarded all the alternatives" guesses. Call it the 'Guiness Guess.'
I speculate he saw his one chance at enduring fame (or infamy, if you prefer) and took it. He will likely hold, for a long time, the record for "most shot by a person acting alone in a single place and time."
I would never claim to understand why holding that record would appeal to anyone, but I sense that it might, to a few.
