U.S. President Donald Trump is visiting Las Vegas on Wednesday, as investigators there continue to try to figure out why a gunman attacked a music festival from a hotel room high above, killing at least 58 people and then himself.
"We’re going to pay our respects, and to see the police who have done really a fantastic job in a very short time," Trump told reporters from Washington as he departed for Las Vegas Wednesday morning. "And yeah, they’re learning a lot more, and that’ll be announced at the appropriate time. It’s a very very sad day for me, personally," he said.
WATCH: Trump talks to reporters before heading to Las Vegas
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Trump on Going to Vegas: 'It's a Very, Very Sad Day for Me, Personally'
The president has also described the shooter as a "sick and demented person," and said that discussion about any new gun regulations is for "a later time."
It is a "miracle" how fast the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police were able to find the demented shooter and stop him from even more killing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017
This undated photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Marilou Danley. Danley, 62, returned to the United States from the Philippines on Oct. 3, 2017, and was met at Los Angeles International Airport by FBI agents, according to law enforcement officials.
What motivated shooter?
Authorities have identified 64-year-old Stephen Paddock as the man who fired shots for between nine and 11 minutes from his 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. In addition to those killed, more than 500 people were injured during the attack.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters Tuesday that he "absolutely" believes police will determine the shooter's motive and that he anticipated a "substantial amount of information" in the next few days.
"We are making progress but I don't have complete answers yet," he said.
One potential key to the investigation is Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who Lombardo said was a person of interest in the case.
She was in the Philippines at the time of the attack and flew back to the United States late Tuesday. She was met at Los Angeles International Airport by FBI agents.
Lombardo said what is clear is that the attack late Sunday on the Las Vegas Strip was premeditated.
"The fact that he had the type of weaponry and the amount of weaponry in that room, it was pre-planned extensively and I'm pretty sure he evaluated everything he did in his actions, which is troublesome," the sheriff said.
People attend a candlelight vigil for victims of the Route 91 music festival mass shooting next to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 3, 2017.
Modified guns, spy cameras
Investigators found 23 guns inside the hotel room and 12 so-called "bump stock" devices that can enable a rifle to fire continuously. Paddock also set up multiple cameras looking out into the hallway outside the room, apparently to monitor the police response. Another 26 guns were found at two of Paddock's homes.
Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said it will still take days to completely process the evidence in the Mandalay Bay room.
"Nobody wants answers to why more than the police and the victims' families, but we have a responsibility to get it right," McMahill said.
A police officer stands watch along a portion of Las Vegas Boulevard.
Large money transfer
U.S. security officials also said investigators were examining a $100,000 wire transfer that Paddock made to an account in the Philippines in the days before the shooting.
Paddock's brother, Eric, is just as baffled as police by his motive. He said the family is "horrified and bewildered."
He said his brother had plenty of money and had no known political or religious affiliations, no ties with white supremacists, and no history of mental illness.
Witnesses and survivors described the scene as chaotic, saying it was unclear where the shots were coming from and where they could run to be safe.
"You turned to the left someone would be there with a bloody leg you turned to the right someone would be there with a bloody arm," Kimberly Buckholtz, a lifelong resident of Las Vegas, told VOA Kurdish.
"It was ... just traumatic. There was nowhere to go."
"We cannot even rule out mental illness or some form of brain damage, although there's no evidence of that either," a Homeland Security official said Tuesday.
WATCH: Police video recorded during mass shooting
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Las Vegas Police Body Cam Video During Mass Shooting