Las Vegas cops unsure if gunman eyed earlier Chance the Rapper concert

LAS VEGAS — The retiree responsible for the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history rented a room last month in a hotel overlooking a music festival featuring Chance the Rapper, but law enforcement officials were unsure if the gunman had been planning an earlier attack.

“Was he doing pre-surveillance? We don’t know yet,” said Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo. “This is all pre-conjecture.”

But Lombardo said investigators had determined that Stephen Paddock rented a room in the Ogden Las Vegas around the same time as the “Life is Beautiful” music festival, which was held Sept. 22-24.

Lombardo told reporters that Paddock rented a room through Airbnb at the Ogden hotel in downtown Las Vegas but didn’t know why. He says investigators have recovered items and video from the hotel.

The room overlooked The Life is Beautiful festival, which featured Chance the Rapper, Muse, Lorde and Blink-182.

On Sunday, Paddock opened fire from the 32^nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, killing 58 people and injuring nearly 530 at a country music festival before killing himself.

A product of Chicago’s South Side, Chance the rapper is a Jones College Prep alum who donated $1 million to Chicago Public Schools. The Grammy winner’s full name is Chancelor Bennett. His father, Ken Bennett, has worked for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama and the late Mayor Harold Washington.