Threat assessment

FBI and DHS Assessment Outlined Threat of Lone Offenders Targeting Las Vegas

More than nine months before Stephen Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, killing at least 59 people, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a “Joint Special Event Threat Assessment” warning of the potential threat of lone offenders targeting mass gatherings, like music venues in Las Vegas.

A main concern, according to the unclassified, for-official-use-only document obtained by Foreign Policy, was that unaffiliated lone offenders could take advantage of New Year’s Eve celebrations in the Las Vegas Strip to stage an attack that would be hard to prevent.