Las Vegas Sun

April 25, 2024

Police release more video from officers at Strip shooting

Police on Wednesday released video from cameras worn by officers who were trying to find and stop a gunman opening fire from a Las Vegas Strip hotel and help victims wounded during the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

It marks the sixth batch of information released after media organizations, including The Associated Press, sued for video, audio and documents from the Oct. 1 shooting that killed 58 people and injured hundreds of others. Las Vegas police and the FBI have declined to comment on any of the material.

The footage and documents have not shed light on a motive for the shooting, and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, the elected head of the Police Department, has said the investigation has not identified one.

Authorities say gunman Stephen Paddock acted alone and killed himself before police reached him.

Video, 911 calls and witness accounts that were previously released have provided sometimes graphic and heartbreaking details of people screaming for help, falling in rapid gunfire and helping each other escape the carnage at an outdoor concert. Names have been bleeped from audio and blacked out on documents.

Police released video last week from a camera atop the Mandalay Bay resort that provided a bird's-eye view of a concert venue where 22,000 country music fans scattered as gunfire rained down from the windows of a hotel room on the 32nd floor.

The department also released 518 files of 911 audio reflecting panic, fear and desperation.

Previously released footage from two officers' body-worn cameras showed police blasting through the door of the room where authorities say Paddock killed himself before officers arrived. Paddock is seen dead on the floor.

Police reports, witness statements and dispatch logs shared earlier have provided more detail about the confusion and heroism as the concert venue became a killing field. Some reports also described officers racing from casino to casino on the Las Vegas Strip debunking reports of multiple shooters and bomb threats.

A preliminary police report released in January said the 64-year-old high-stakes gambler meticulously planned the attack, researched police SWAT tactics, rented hotel rooms overlooking outdoor concerts and investigated potential targets in at least four U.S. cities.

Lombardo has said he expects a final investigative report will be released next month. The FBI plans to release a report by the anniversary of the shooting.