Photo Credit: Getty Images
The Las Vegas shooter, Stephen Paddock, booked rooms in Chicago that directly faced the Lollapalooza music festival in August, law enforcement officials told USA TODAY on Thursday.
“We are aware of the media reports and have been in communication with our federal partners,” the Chicago Police Department said in a statement. “As you saw earlier this week the city conducts extensive public safety planning and training around major events, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, to ensure public safety."
Paddock reserved one room at the Blackstone Hotel starting Aug. 1, two days before the festival started. He also booked a second room Aug. 3. Both rooms had a checkout date for Aug. 6, which was the final day of the music festival.
It’s not known if Paddock actually stayed in these rooms or was in Chicago during the festival, according to the law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
The Lollapalooza lineup for the festival this Summer included Lorde, Chance the Rapper and Arcade Fire. The festival took place at Chicago’s Grant Park.
In addition to these bookings in Chicago, a federal law enforcement official said Paddock “also expressed interest in Boston in the past several months, prompting authorities to notify local authorities there”.
According to The New York Daily News, the shooter also used an Airbnb to book a room at The Ogden during the three-day “Life is Beautiful” festival in Las Vegas which ran from Sept. 22 to 24, and featured Chance the Rapper, Lorde and Blink 182.
Paddock rented three rooms over the course of the week of the three-day festival. It’s currently not clear if he was scouting out the concert grounds to plan for the attack he then carried out Oct. 1.
Officials explained that the information referencing other locations was found while investigators’ dug through Paddock’s communications devices.