LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas police on Wednesday released some body-camera video from officers responding to the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
A video obtained early by the Las Vegas Review-Journal shows officers breaching a door and entering the 32nd-floor hotel suite where Stephen Paddock unleashed gunfire on a country music festival last October. It shows the officers walking around the suite, but the angle of the camera makes it difficult to see what they encountered.
Officers are heard talking about finding “multiple cameras” on a room service cart in the hallway outside the suite, which Paddock apparently placed to monitor anyone approaching as he carried out the attack.
Police and the FBI have said Paddock killed 58 people and injured hundreds more before killing himself as authorities closed in.
The footage doesn’t show what the first officer through the door saw because he didn’t activate his body-worn camera. That disclosure by police lawyers late Tuesday raises questions about whether officers followed department policy.
The newly released videos represent a sample of hundreds of hours of bodycam recordings that don’t answer the question of why Paddock opened fire, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters Tuesday.
Police and the FBI have said they believe Paddock, a 64-year-old former accountant and high-stakes video poker player, acted alone.
The police investigation is not finished, said Lombardo, who oversees the department and called the preparation and release of documents sought by the media a “monumental task” that would divert resources from police work.
“What is seen on those videos in no way changes the facts that we were able to clarify for you shortly after the crime,” he said.
Lombardo referred to a preliminary police report released Jan. 19 that said Paddock meticulously planned the attack, researched police SWAT tactics, rented hotel rooms overlooking outdoor concerts and investigated potential targets in at least four U.S. cities.
The sheriff’s top spokeswoman, Carla Alston, said Wednesday that no one in the agency would comment about whether the first officer through the door followed proper procedure by not activating his camera or whether he had been disciplined for violating policies.
The Police Department requires officers to activate body cameras during calls that lead to interaction with residents and searches.
The Associated Press and other media outlets sued to obtain videos, 911 recordings, evidence logs and interview reports.
The department had sought to delay the release of the videos and recordings, but the Nevada Supreme Court last month denied their motion. Lombardo said the department would release more records in batches in coming weeks in accordance with the court order.
In a statement, Lombardo said he believes the release of the materials will have a “significant impact” on the victims.
“We believe the release of graphic footage will further traumatize a wounded community and for that we apologize,” he said.
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