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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday called the gunman who killed 59 people and wounded more than 500 others at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas a “very, very sick individual.”
Trump spoke to reporters as he departed for a trip to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. He called the late gunman “demented” and said “we’re looking into him very seriously.”
Trump also praised Las Vegas police, saying they did an “incredible job.”
Asked about gun laws, the president said: “We’ll be talking about gun laws as time goes by.”
Trump has labeled the Sunday night massacre an “act of pure evil” and declared the nation would unite behind the survivors.
His remarks from the White House on Monday were the prelude to a two-part test of whether Trump, a leader who excels at political provocation, also can deliver solace. Trump will travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with families of the dead.
“Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence,” the president said Monday. “We call upon the bonds that unite us: our faith, our family, and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity.”
Trump spoke hours after a gunman on the 32nd floor of a Vegas Strip casino opened fire on people at the outdoor country music festival below. The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, killed himself in his hotel room before authorities arrived. It’s not clear what motivated the shooting, although his actions suggest he had planned the attacks for at least a period of days.
Trump, who owns a hotel in Las Vegas, told associates he feels deep ties to the city. He said in public that his visit would be “a very, very sad moment for me … for everybody no matter where you are, no matter what your thought process.”
Like presidents before him, Trump marked the Las Vegas shootings by ordering the American flags at all public buildings across the nation flown at half-staff, and he observed a moment of silence on the White House lawn.