Stephen Paddock, the man whose Las Vegas shooting rampage killed 59 people and left more than 500 injured, bought 33 guns in the past 12 months, a law enforcement official was quoted by US Today as saying on Wednesday.

Some of Paddock’s gun purchases date back more than 20 years, but authorities have determined that more than 30 of the firearms were acquired in the past year, the official said. 

The official who is not authorized to comment publicly said that most of the recent purchases were rifles. Authorities have been closely examining the buying spree in an effort to determine what drove the 64-year-old man to launch the deadliest shooting in modern American history.

Under federal law, gun stores are required to report multiple handgun purchases to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives but not multiple rifle purchases.

Source: MENA