By Michelle L. Price
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas police released body camera footage Wednesday of officers finding a wounded security guard on the same floor of a Las Vegas hotel where a gunman opened fire on a country music festival.
The footage released by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department under a court order includes videos of an officer entering the music festival amid gunfire and another arriving on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino-resort where Stephen Paddock was barricaded in his room.
The 14 body camera videos released Wednesday are the 11th batch of records Las Vegas police were ordered to provide to media organizations, including The Associated Press, under a public records lawsuit.
Police and the FBI have refused to comment about the information gathered during the investigation into the Oct. 1 shooting. Authorities said Paddock opened fire for about 10 minutes across Las Vegas Boulevard, killing 58 people and injuries hundreds of others before killing himself.
It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Much of the video on the 32nd floor is obstructed by an officer’s arm in front of a camera.
However, security guard Jesus Campos can be heard telling police the shots came from Paddock’s room.
“I don’t know if it’s a pellet or a .22,” Campos said of the bullets that struck him.
It’s unclear if Paddock was still alive at that point. No gunfire can be heard in the video.
Another video released last month provides another officer’s perspective of the same encounter, where Campos can be seen showing off his leg where he was struck and limping slightly.
The officers and Mandalay Bay security guards in Wednesday’s video can be heard discussing whether they can breach Paddock’s room at the end of the hallway. As gunfire can no longer be heard and the room is barricaded shut, the officers decide to wait for more police to arrive before trying to enter the room and speculate that it could be “booby-trapped.”
SWAT officers later used explosive devices to enter Paddock’s room.
One video released Wednesday shows an officer running into the music festival as hundreds of people fleeing the barrage of gunfire.
Amid screaming and a torrent of gunfire, a man asks the officer to call for some EMTs.
“Sorry I can’t I’ve got to get the shooter,” the officer said as he runs with his gun drawn.
“Just radio it in, please,” the man asks.
The officer soon after appears to recognize that the shooting is coming across the street from the hotel.
One video released Wednesday shows an officer reporting in the aftermath of the shooting that his police truck was “stolen during the event” with two shotguns still inside.
The video does not contain information about how or when the truck was stolen, whether it was recovered and who was responsible.
Las Vegas police did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Previously released records, including other video from officer-worn body cameras, surveillance footage and 911 calls, have shown the chaos, pain and acts of heroism that followed the shooting. Videos have shown people seeking cover as the gunfire is heard and others carrying wounded victims.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, elected head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, has said authorities believe gunman Stephen Paddock acted alone and that the attack had no link to international terrorism. He has said he expects to release a report from the ongoing investigation by the end of the month.
Lombardo has said investigators might never know why Paddock, a 64-year-old high-stakes video-poker player, meticulously stockpiled guns and then opened fire on a crowd of 22,000 country music fans.