Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters Friday that police now agree with information released yesterday by MGM Resorts International that the time Stephen Paddock fired shots into the Mandalay Bay hotel hallway that wounded a security guard was about the same time he began to rain down bullets on a concert crowd, at 10:05 p.m. on Oct. 1.
It was the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history.
Earlier this week, police said security guard Jesus Campos was wounded in the leg six minutes before Paddock began shooting at the crowd. Today, Lombardo said he’s “not in conflict” with MGM’s statement yesterday.
The timeline of events now has 9:59 p.m. as the time Campos encountered a barricaded door adjacent to the door to Paddock’s room. Lombardo said Campos then ascended to another floor in order to get to the hallway of Paddock’s 32nd-floor suite. About 10:05 shots were fired through the door, wounding Campos, Lombardo said.
He said that is also the time that Paddock began his initial volley of fire from the hotel window. “No one is attempting to hide anything,” Lombardo told reporters.
When police arrived on the 32nd-floor, at 10:17, Lombardo said the firing had already ceased.
Police said Paddock killed 58 people. Today they put the number of injured at 546, with 45 still in hospital, some with critical injuries.
Lombardo told reporters that an autopsy of Paddock found nothing unusual during a visual inspection, but his brain was shipped to a facility for closer examination.
Authorities haven’t determined why Paddock opened fire on the concert crowd before shooting himself. Some believed an autopsy could shed light on any medical problems that could have contributed.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Aaron Rouse said investigators have found no signs that Paddock had any extreme ideologies or connections with any groups.
In Las Vegas on Oct. 7, 58 white doves are released in honour of the victims of the mass shooting.
