Staff at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino did not call police until after Stephen Paddock began shooting out his hotel room window — several minutes after the gunman shot a security guard on the 32nd floor hallway, according to an ABC News report.
An anonymous source who reportedly reviewed the hotel’s phone records for Sunday, October 1 told ABC News that Paddock had begun firing at the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival. The report does not indicate if source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, knew exactly who called the police or from where.
Representatives for MGM Resorts, which operates Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But sources connected to the hotel management group told ABC News that while there was what appears to be at least a six minute delay in contacting police after security guard Jesus Campos was shot, the hotel response still saved lives. It is unclear if or how Campos alerted anyone to his injury before he encountered maintenance engineer Stephen Schuck.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Schuck appeared on the Today show Wednesday to report his ordeal, when he arrived to the 32nd floor of the hotel in response to a report of a blocked fire escape. There he said Campos warned him of the gunfire, and he radioed staff at the hotel to contact the police. CrimeOnline obtained audio of that recording, in which Schuck can also be heard telling the dispatcher that a member of the security team was already on the floor.
MGM Resorts released a statement Tuesday night challenging the most recent police-reported timeline of events the night of the shooting.
“This remains an ongoing investigation with a lot of moving parts. As evidenced by law enforcement briefings over the past week, many facts are still unverified and continue to change as events are under review. We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline that has been communicated publically, and we believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate.
We understand the public’s desire for information and the importance of getting our community and the public at large the information they deserve, and we are doing everything we can to support law enforcement’s efforts to do so. Therefore, it is not appropriate for us to comment further at this time on what remains an open matter for law enforcement.”
[Feature photo: Associated Press]
