Las Vegas Shooting

[nd5056]

I guess that the Fire Alarm story holds some truth in in after all

At about 22:30 the Sheriff describes how they were able to locate him. What you posted is a theory.

I guess that the Fire Alarm story holds some truth in in after all, watch the video...

How the SWAT Team Found the Las Vegas Gunman

Fire alarms in the hotel room led SWAT teams to the shooter.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12764659/how-the-swat-team-found-the-las-vegas-gunman/

...
(This account is based primarily on tapes of police communications recorded by Broadcastify.com.)


10:08 p.m. After breaking through two windows in his hotel room, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opens fire on more than 22,000 concert-goers from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

“We got shots fired,” an officer says. “Sounds like an automatic firearm.” An officer at the festival sounds the alarm.

First calls come in to emergency dispatch with reports of an active shooter at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the South side of the Las Vegas strip.

“It’s coming from upstairs in the Mandalay Bay. Upstairs in the Mandalay Bay, halfway up I see the shots coming from Mandalay Bay, halfway up.”

"Shots fired from the Mandalay Bay. There's many people down. Stage left."

10:12 p.m. “We have multiple casualties. G.S.W.’s in the medical tent. Multiple casualties!” (GSW is police shorthand for gunshot wounds.)

“Shots are coming from Gate 7.”

“We have a rifle deployed. We’re in front of Mandalay Bay. We’re trying to see where the shots are coming from. If anyone can advise if they’re coming from Mandalay”

"It sounds like it’s either Mandalay or Luxor, we cannot tell."

10:14 p.m. “It’s coming from like the 50 or 60th floor of the Mandalay Bay. It’s coming out the window.”

"We’re seeing local flashes in the middle of Mandalay Bay on the north side, kind of on the west tower but towards the center of the casino, like one of the middle floors.”

10:15 p.m. An officer locates the shooter's room, one of 3,309 rooms at the Mandalay Bay, after police clears floors 29 through 32 of the hotel.

“I'm inside the Mandalay Bay on the 31st floor, I can hear the automatic fire coming from one floor ahead, one floor above us.”

(The gunman's exact location within the hotel was discovered after fire alarms went off from the smoke from the weapons, according to Randy Sutton, a former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police lieutenant. There is no mention of the fire alarm in police dispatch audio.)





10:16 p.m. "Fully automatic fire from an elevated position. Take cover.”

“That is correct, it’s fully automatic fire. I'm right below it.”

On the festival grounds: "We’re taking gunfire. It’s going right over our heads," an officer says.

10:17 p.m. "We need to snuff the shooter before we have more victims! Anybody have eyes on him, on this shooter?"

"About 15th floor on the Mandalay Bay facing the whole lot."

“Hey officers, please stay calm, just relax, we’re trying to get this set up.”

10:24 p.m. Officers arrive on the gunman's floor.

“I’m in the stairwell on the 32nd floor.

"The room is going to be 135.”

“It’s room 1-3-5 on the 32nd floor. I need the SWAT.”

"Confirming it is the Mandalay Bay, 32nd floor, room 1-3-5."

10:28 p.m. False reports come in of another gunman.

The New York Times reported that over the next 50 minutes SWAT teams assembled outside the shooter's room and prepared to breach.

At approximately 11:20 p.m., the SWAT team explodes a door-breaching device and enters Paddock's room. CNN released audio from the moment they breached Paddock's door...

 

[BLAZEY]

Maybe not. But that mass shooting was just a symptom of a far greater problem in our society.

A properly and safely stored gun would be useless in any kind of personal protection from intruder situation. You'd be better of with a paring knife, you could use it faster.

 

[Domo]

A properly and safely stored gun would be useless in any kind of personal protection from intruder situation. You'd be better of with a paring knife, you could use it faster.

I've always wondered about the "safety and security" argument in favour of firearms ownership. If a nutter knocks at your door and blasts your brains out with a gun he bought legally, you won't have time to make him wait whilst you fetch your own weapon or even pick up one placed with paranoia by your front door.

 

[nd5056]

guns found in the room on the floor:

 

[wenrob]

I don't know. A Vegas local @wenrob could answer that. I can't.

Yes, there are. Multiple times a year. They have several venues inside and out at the Mandalay Bay as well as other Hotel/Casinos. My DD and DH both attend them often. It’s something I keep thinking about, how one of them could have easily been there.

 

[cabanafrau]

I don't know. A Vegas local @wenrob could answer that. I can't.

I think MGM group owns that piece of land. Pretty sure that's where they hold some of iHeart Radio, not sure what else. They also own a large plot on the north end of the strip where they held Rock in Rio and where it's been reported they have plans to bring in a new music festival next year.

It will be interesting to see what they do with this plot of land, and this Route 91 Festival next year. Nobody wants to see the monsters of this world win, but I can also see where it would be emotionally challenging for people to return to the spot next year and attempt to carry on.

 

[Hikergirl]

The big, unanswered elephant in the room is why this particular person did what he did.

And the only things we are hearing at this point are the same old narratives that almost always come up in these situations: he was "just a regular guy" who generally “kept to himself” and no one in his family, none of his friends, nor anyone in his neighborhood had any idea at all that he was a raging psychopath.

Yep, this guy had somehow accumulated an arsenal roughly equivalent to that of the Bulgarian Army, was carrying what he needed to make a huge fertilizer bomb in his car and spent four days carting firearms and ammunition into his comped suite at the Mandalay Bay.

But nobody at all had any idea that he was up to something.

See, the amount of guns, the fertilizer, the firearms and ammo in a city where they were legal would not raise any flags for me.
I mean look at a gun safe, they are designed to hold many guns, and people have multiple safes in their homes sometimes. Also, who would know he had those guns? Do you know what your neighbors have in their home? How much of something they have?
Despite what conclusion people jump to about people owning many firearms, that alone isn't a sign of someone being a psychopath. It isn't a sign that someone is planning mass murder, or murder at all.
Fertilizer? If I saw a neighbor with a bunch of fertilizer I wouldn't think he was a psychopath either. I'd think he was doing a bunch of yard work.

I'm more baffled that people who knew him, like the woman living with him had no idea he was a psychopath based on some personality traits.
He must have kept that well hidden because if he didn't then yes all those things you mentioned would have sent up flags to many. But the fact that he was "a regular guy" to many means that none of those things would have been seen as crazy.

 

[wonder whisper]

It's not hard to plan how to attack somewhere. It's not difficult to execute it. What would be difficult is not getting caught after.

My point wasn't about the difficulty (or lack thereof) of planning and executing an attack. Rather, it was that we have yet to get any real insight on why this psychopath did what he did.

And what I'll add to that point now is short of having that insight, the inevitable debates that are already starting about "what needs to be done to stop these sorts of tragedies from continuing to happen" are going to end up the way they always do.

Which is a stalemate based upon disagreements over causes vs. symptoms.

 

[cabanafrau]

Hadn't he also moved a few times in the past several years? His current neighbors have reported not knowing him and noting that he was reclusive.

He's gambled an awful lot of money very recently, an awful lot. If Michael Jackson could have spent his many, many millions in excessive shopping trips it's not beyond belief that this much more average guy with some wealth could have impoverished himself rather quickly if he got carried away with the gambling.

 

[wenrob]

I guess that the Fire Alarm story holds some truth in in after all



I guess that the Fire Alarm story holds some truth in in after all, watch the video...

It’s the same guy you quoted earlier and it says in the transcript that there is no mention of fire alarms. He’s not a spokesperson for the LVMPD. Sheriff Lambardo is. That’s who I’m listening to right now unless I’m given a reason not to.

 

[wonder whisper]

See, the amount of guns, the fertilizer, the firearms and ammo in a city where they were legal would not raise any flags for me.
I mean look at a gun safe, they are designed to hold many guns, and people have multiple safes in their homes sometimes. Also, who would know he had those guns? Do you know what your neighbors have in their home? How much of something they have?
Despite what conclusion people jump to about people owning many firearms, that alone isn't a sign of someone being a psychopath. It isn't a sign that someone is planning mass murder, or murder at all.
Fertilizer? If I saw a neighbor with a bunch of fertilizer I wouldn't think he was a psychopath either. I'd think he was doing a bunch of yard work.

I'm more baffled that people who knew him, like the woman living with him had no idea he was a psychopath based on some personality traits.
He must have kept that well hidden because if he didn't then yes all those things you mentioned would have sent up flags to many. But the fact that he was "a regular guy" to many means that none of those things would have been seen as crazy.

Fair points and frankly I hope the authorities are able to get below the surface with his family/friend /acquaintances, to determine if this killer was as perceivably benign (ergo, a cunning psychopath) as he is currently being made out to be or if in retrospect there were "missed signals."

 

[sam_gordon]

I guess that the Fire Alarm story holds some truth in in after all



I guess that the Fire Alarm story holds some truth in in after all, watch the video...

It's the same guy from your earlier link making the same claims. I'm wondering, have there been any reports of guests on that floor hearing the alarm (assuming it could be heard over the gunfire)? Aren't hotel fire alarms "linked" so if one room goes off, multiple would?

 

[sam_gordon]

Fair points and frankly I hope the authorities are able to get below the surface with his family/friend /acquaintances, to determine if this killer was as perceivably benign (ergo, a cunning psychopath) as he is currently being made out to be or if in retrospect there were "missed signals."

It would not surprise me one bit if there were "missed signals". Hindsight is 20/20. Knowing what people know now makes it easy to say "you should have seen this then".

 

[bcla]

That's actually not hard to believe if you think about it.
1) You're assuming someone saw the multiple weapons he had in the room. I read somewhere there were 10 suitcases in the room. It's not unbelievable to think he put the weapons in suitcases and took them a couple at a time to the room. Do you realize how busy the Vegas hotels are? He could even stagger what time of day he brought things in and I bet you employees wouldn't notice a thing.
2) Unless someone got a whiff of the fertilizer, why would anyone know what was in the car?

I hope you're not suggesting hotels should have the right to examine suitcases and vehicles.

It's not hard to plan how to attack somewhere. It's not difficult to execute it. What would be difficult is not getting caught after.

Well - I think that's exactly what some security experts are saying - that the hotel as a private property owner has the right to search their guests. All major hotels in Vegas have policies that weapons aren't allowed.

I was hearing a guy who was a consultant at Wynn's, and he wouldn't quite divulge how they handled it other than he was confident that the policies he instituted would have discovered 10 firearms by a guest. In another interview he said that some hotels have X-ray scanners.

 

[sam_gordon]

Well - I think that's exactly what some security experts are saying - that the hotel as a private property owner has the right to search their guests. All major hotels in Vegas have policies that weapons aren't allowed.

I was hearing a guy who was a consultant at Wynn's, and he wouldn't quite divulge how they handled it other than he was confident that the policies he instituted would have discovered 10 firearms by a guest. In another interview he said that some hotels have X-ray scanners.

You're right. I misspoke. Hotels would have the right to search belongings. However, I don't think the American public would put up with that.

 

[Magpie]

Well - I think that's exactly what some security experts are saying - that the hotel as a private property owner has the right to search their guests. All major hotels in Vegas have policies that weapons aren't allowed.

I was hearing a guy who was a consultant at Wynn's, and he wouldn't quite divulge how they handled it other than he was confident that the policies he instituted would have discovered 10 firearms by a guest. In another interview he said that some hotels have X-ray scanners.

Hm... I sincerely hope we don't ever have to get to the point where just checking into our hotel involves going through a TSA-style x-ray luggage check and metal detector. One mass killer, by himself, is not enough reason (in my personal opinion) to search everyone's luggage and body for hidden weapons.

 

[Domo]

Might I just add my subjective opinion...

I hate guns. I loathe them. I'm military trained in a variety of firearms, including the British Army L85A2, the P90 and the Aug. And I despised them. They were vicious. They were destructive. They were built to kill. These days, short of an air rifle, I won't handle a firearm at all. I mean, the only legitimate role for a firearm that I will consider is target shooting and even then, air rifles are all you need (in fact, they're better suited to the task - less recoil, more even trajectories).

 

[WVMomof3]

I have not seen any thing to say why 2 windows were shot out. They seemed too far apart to be from the same room. Unless it was a big suite, I guess. Just hadn't seen anything about the 2nd window.

 

[wenrob]

It's the same guy from your earlier link making the same claims. I'm wondering, have there been any reports of guests on that floor hearing the alarm (assuming it could be heard over the gunfire)? Aren't hotel fire alarms "linked" so if one room goes off, multiple would?

I guess that’s what’s bothering me about this claim. The only mention of fire alarms is coming from this guy. It’s been many years since I’ve worked on the floors but if they were going off I can’t see it being just that room.

 

[Hikergirl]

I have not seen any thing to say why 2 windows were shot out. They seemed too far apart to be from the same room. Unless it was a big suite, I guess. Just hadn't seen anything about the 2nd window.

They were both in his suite, it gave him 2 vantage points