On Friday, the man who was named as a person of interest in the Las Vegas massacre told reporters that he was completely innocent, reiterating that he had only briefly met Stephen Paddock, the man accused of shooting hundreds and murdering roughly 60 people.
Speaking at a news conference, Douglas Haig, 55, repeated what he said earlier this week, that he had sold Paddock 720 rounds of ammunition in September. He also revealed he has received death threats since his name was accidentally released in police warrants made public by a Nevada judge on Tuesday.
Haig’s Friday conference was prompted by the recent release of search warrant records filed last fall by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department stating that Haig “may have conspired with Stephen Paddock to commit murder with a deadly weapon.” Haig had protested that earlier in the week, when he asserted, “I felt that they were hoping that they could find a connection between myself and Paddock, that would go back showing that I supplied him with most of his ammunition, possibly even some firearms. They’re not gonna find it. I talked to the guy three times.”
Haig, an aerospace engineer, said he has sold ammunition as a hobby for roughly two decades. He said he and Paddock met at a gun show in Phoenix, and that Paddock visited Mr. Haig’s home in Mesa, Arizona, to buy the tracer ammunition. Haig said nothing seemed amiss about the transaction, adding, “He pulled up very well dressed, very well groomed, very polite, respectful. He paid me, put it in his car, went on his way — at no time did he seem suspicious.” Haig said Paddock told him he intended to go to the desert to “put on a light show” with his friends. Haig gave Paddock a box that included his name and address, which ultimately led police to Haig.
Haig stated, “I had no contribution to what Paddock did. I had no way to see into his mind. The product that I sold him had absolutely nothing to do with what he did. I’m a vendor, I’m a merchant whose name was released.”
An attorney for Haig, Marc Victor, asserted that Haig, “to the best of his knowledge, has never sold ammunition to anybody who has ever used it for any unlawful purpose whatsoever.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had found Haig roughly 11 hours after the massacre; Haig said he spoke “without any hesitation” and gave them samples of the kinds of ammunition sold to Paddock.
Haig’s lawyer insisted Haig was not hiding anything, adding that his client had nothing to hide and that “the reason he opts to speak to the press today is basically to protect his reputation.”