Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock 'hit tanks full of aviation fuel' as he fired into crowd

Jet fuel containers were in line of sight from Mandalay Bay Hotel room

Bullets fired by Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock hit large aviation fuel tanks near the site of the Route 91 music festival, a law enforcement source has said.

One of the bullets penetrated the tank but did not cause a fire or explosion, according to a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The fuel tanks were in the line of sight during Mr Paddock’s attack on concert-goers, but it is not known if he was specifically targeting the containers.

The tanks are situated just beyond the music festival area, around 2,000 feet from the Mandalay Bay Hotel from which Mr Paddock fired into the crowd, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more.

The tanks sit on property owned by McCarran International Airport.

County Clark Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told a press conference on Wednesday around 1,600 rounds of ammunition and containers of explosives were found in Mr Paddock’s car at the hotel.

Police said there was evidence Mr Paddock, who was found dead in his hotel room 75 minutes after the first 9/11 call, intended to survive the attack.

One week earlier, he had rented an apartment overlooking another open-air music festival in downtown Las Vegas.

Police said the reasons why Mr Paddock committed the atrocity is still unknown and whether there were any possible accomplices remains a mystery, although it was likely he “had some help”.

Mr Lombardo told reporters: “You look at the weapon obtaining, the different amounts of Tannerite [explosives] available, do you think this was all accomplished on his own?

“On face value, you’ve got to make the assumption he had to have some help at some point, and we want to ensure that that’s the answer.”

The girlfriend of Mr Paddock, Marilou Danley, said she was not aware he was planning any violence, but said that a trip to the Philippines he sent her on during the shooting was a way to end their relationship.

Ms Danley, who spoke to the FBI on Wednesday, said she knew Mr Paddock as a “kind, caring, quiet man” and said she was “devastated by the deaths and injuries that have occurred.”

In a statement released via her lawyer, she said she planned to “cooperate fully” with the investigation.