SandyMaloneLas Vegas, NV – The Las Vegas shooter behaved like a regular in the Mandalay Bay casino, chatted with staff, and tipped well as valets transported at least 21 suitcases up to the hotel suite that would become his sniper’s nest on Oct. 1, 2017 (video below).
The New York Times released a video they edited and produced with exclusive footage provided by the MGM hotel where Stephen Paddock set up his rampage in the seven days before he opened fire.
The video tracked Paddock’s final movements at the hotel, from the time he checked in to his last trip up in the elevator, less than 10 hours before let loose with the first burst of gunfire.
On Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, he checked into a suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay in the afternoon, and transported the first five of 21 suitcases filled with guns and ammunition up to his suite, the video showed. He also booked an adjoining room that he wouldn’t check in to until later in the week.
He was friendly and tipped the bellboy well then, and on each additional trip he made from his car to the room over the next week, The New York Times reported.
Every time Paddock brought bags into the hotel, he told the bellman he wanted to remain with his bags, and then used the freight elevator with the valet.
By tracing Paddock’s cell phone usage during the week prior to his shooting, police discovered he had also rented a unit in a condo building in Las Vegas called The Ogden.
Paddock made multiple stops at The Ogden, and spent time in his rooms there, throughout the week. The room overlooked a festival happening just below that hotel, and the New York Times said investigators don’t know if Paddock was using that site for planning purposes, or if he’d initially planned to go on his shooting rampage at the Life Is Beautiful Festival first.
He took suitcases out with him every time he left the hotel in his car, the video showed. Most days he went home to Mesquite where investigators believe he loaded up those and more bags with addition weapons and ammunition, the video showed.
Each time the future mass murderer returned to the Mandalay Bay, he brought more suitcases with him, and used the valet to transport them up to his room. The bellmen had no way of knowing what they were helping him do, according to The New York Times.
Three days after he checked in, he went shopping and bought a new .308 bolt-action rifle. He took that gun shooting at a nearby gun range.
Afterwards, he returned to the Mandalay Bay, where he transported more guns up to his suite, and then stayed up gambling in the hotel’s casino all night, The New York Times reported.
By Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, Paddock had brought 21 suitcases, two smaller bags, a laptop case, and a white plastic tub up to his suite, most of it transported by hotel staff.
Elevator surveillance showed Paddock returning to his room at about 12:30 p.m., pulling the last two bags he’d brought with him.
The New York Times reported that he spent much of the day locking and relocking the doors on both his suite and the attached room he’d checked in to a few days before.
He set up a camera outside of his door and camouflaged it on a room service cart in the hallway. It alerted him to anyone who approached his rooms from the hallway during his shooting rampage.
As the festival headline performer began, the video explained that Paddock dead-bolted his doors for the last time.
At 10:05 p.m., he began his shooting rampage that ultimately left 58 people dead, and wounded 700 others in under 10 minutes, according to The New York Times.
Despite countless hours of investigation, and hundreds of people investigating, authorities still have no motive for the mass shooting.
You can see the surveillance video below: