Las Vegas authorities said the gunman, who shot dead 58 people at a music festival on October 1, would have killed many more if security personnel did not respond as quickly as they did.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said he had visited Mumbai after Lashkar-e-Taiba militants attacked the city killing 164 people, including some American nationals, in 2008. He said the insight gained from his visit to Mumbai helped him prepare his team better for last week’s shooting incident, CBS News reported on Sunday.
“Before, we were trained to form a perimeter and hope for the best,” Lombardo told the host of the show “60 Minutes”. “Now we are trained to gather up and go get it... Get a group of officers together as fast as you can. And immediately address the threat to cease the action.”
Lombardo said a small team of Las Vegas police officers – two K-9 officers, a detective and a SWAT team member – converged on the Mandalay Bay Hotel and minutes later, breached the gunman’s hotel room door on the 32nd floor. It was specialised training that allowed them to act so quickly, Lombardo told CBS News. “I think they prevented a thousand deaths, and I think it’s important for the American public to understand that,” Lombardo said on Monday.
Sergeant Joshua Bitsko and Officer Dave Newton of the K-9 unit had been training dogs when they heard the message over police radio about an active shooter. They described what they saw in the shooter’s hotel room. “Stacks and stacks of magazines everywhere,” Newton said. “Just in suitcases all neatly stacked against pillars, around the room, all stacked up, rifles placed all throughout. All kinds of monitors and electrical equipment he had in there. It just looked like almost a gun store,” he said. Joshua Bitsko said he saw shell casings all over the floor where Paddock stayed. At least 23 guns – 12 of which were equipped with bump-stocks, or rapid fire devices – were found inside Paddock’s hotel room.
Paddock had continuously fired on the crowd for nine minutes before the team reached his room at Mandalay Bay Hotel. The 64-year-old is then believed to have killed himself before the officers could reach him. More than 500 were injured after Paddock opened fire at people attending the festival.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!