In a chilling analysis of the deadly Las Vegas concert shooting, veteran former FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt called the attack a "slaughter," considering the suspect was firing a high-capacity weapon from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.
Authorities said the suspected shooter, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock from Mesquite, Nevada, appeared to have killed himself before police stormed his hotel room.
In the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, more than 50 people were killed and over 400 injured after the suspect opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival near the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday night. Country singer Jason Aldean was on stage when it happened around 10 p.m. local time.
"This was a killing field," Van Zandt told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday. He said the attack raises a number of lines of inquiry for authorities such as how much planning went into getting the hotel room and how did Paddock get the weapons up to his room.
"How far in advance did he make reservations? Did he just walk into the hotel? Did he just happen to get that room overlooking that venue or ask for a particular room or floor? What baggage did he carry in?" Van Zandt said.
President Donald Trump on Monday morning tweeted his "warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting." Jim Murren, chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts, which owns Mandalay Bay, said in a statement: "Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims."