“Jesus Campos, a security guard at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino (above), was shot by Paddock six minutes before he began shooting into a crowd of 22,000 people enjoying the country music festival down below, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo said in a news conference Monday evening.” The foxnews.com report radically changes the timeline for the Las Vegas spree killing . . .
Mandalay Bay Hotel security knew about the shooter for six minutes before he started shooting. We know Stephen Paddock fired on the crowd for ten minutes. What was the Mandalay Bay hotel’s armed security doing during those 16 minutes?
Nothing. TTAG has learned that the Mandalay Bay hotel — and other large Las Vegas hotels — have a standard policy for responding to shots fired — wait for the police.
So there were good guys with guns within potential striking distance of the killer who did not strike.
In fact, at least 21 minutes expired from the moment Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Mandalay Bay unarmed security guard until the Las Vegas SWAT team’s arrival. And then another hour before the team made entry.
There may have been police officers on scene when Mr. Campos reported he was attacked. If so, they too were waiting for SWAT to arrive. If so, where were they waiting? It’s possible they were staging outside Paddock’s suite as he was firing.
If it’s like every other large hotel and casino in Las Vegas, the Mandalay Bay has security video of the lobby, elevators and 32nd floor hallway. Any such footage would provide a more complete picture of events leading up to and during Paddock’s attack on the crowd.
That video would help to answer the critical question: could Stephen Paddock have been stopped before opening fire or interrupted during his killing spree, preventing or minimizing the loss of life?