Before police identified Stephen Paddock as the sole suspect in the Las Vegas concert shooting, the internet had pegged a man named Geary Danley as the shooter. Several people were convinced that the man that opened fire during the Route 91 Harvest country music festival was Mr. Danley, and his photo was quickly passed around social media.
As you can see in the above post, Geary Danley appears to be a family man with strong feelings against President Trump. It didn’t take long for people to jump all over him, wrongly accusing him of a heinous crime that he had nothing to do with.
Following the shooting, which left 58 people dead and hundreds more injured, police identified a female “person of interest” named Marilou Danley. She has been described by various outlets as his “companion” and his “roommate.” Some outlets have said that she was Paddock’s wife.
According to the New York Times, Marilou used to be married to Geary Danley.
“She’s probably one of the most happy, outgoing, full-of-life people I’ve ever known. Everyone who has ever met her likes her,” said Geary’s daughter (and Marilou’s former stepdaughter), Dionne Waltrip, about Marilou.
According to USA Today, authorities have spoken with Marilou Danley and have concluded that she was not involved in Sunday night’s massacre. Marilou was in the Philippines at the time of the shooting, but on Oct. 3, she arrived back in the U.S. and will be questioned further.
Paddock committed suicide and was found dead by police when they entered his room, according to the Associated Press. Further details as to why Paddock may have committed this horrific act of violence are unknown. Despite ISIS claiming responsibility for this crime, the FBI is not current investigating a connection.
Geary Danley has not spoken out to the media about being the internet’s target.
