Jailed Man Claims Vegas Mass Shooter Railed Against Government, Would Be Confiscating Guns

(Associated Press) - A man who says he met Las Vegas mass shooter Stephen Paddock less than a month before the Oct. 1 attack told authorities that Paddock had ranted against the government and warned that law enforcement and the military would start confiscating guns.

In a jailhouse interview with police and the FBI, the man said Paddock called Federal Emergency Management Agency "camps" set up after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 "a dry run for law enforcement and military to start kickin' down doors and ... confiscating guns."

The man, whose name was redacted in reports released Wednesday, quoted Paddock saying somebody has to wake up the American public and get them to arm themselves.

The man said he met with Paddock outside a Las Vegas sporting goods store after posting an online ad to sell schematics to convert semi-automatic guns to fire automatically.

Police and the FBI refused to answer questions from The Associated Press about the account.

Authorities have not provided a motive in what was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak told AP that police and the FBI told him no motive has been identified.

Sisolak said he hadn't heard of the man's account and he could not say whether it was credible.