The massacre on the Las Vegas Strip that led to the deaths of 59 people including the shooter, details of the attack are coming into focus. And footage from police body cameras offers a new vantage point on the horrific events. Police say they received the first call that shots had been fired at 10:08 p.m. Sunday night.
Authorities with the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives said 12 devices called “bump-fire stocks” were found in Paddock’s hotel. Audio from the attack suggested that the shots were fired very rapidly, perhaps as fast as 90 shots in 10 seconds. Bump stocks are devices that can be attached to a weapon and allow the shooter to use the power of the recoil to fire more quickly — and on Tuesday, the ATF affirmed their legality. The shooter used is what is called a “bump-stock,” next to a disassembled .22-caliber rifle at North Raleigh Guns in Raleigh, N.C. The gunman who unleashed hundreds of rounds of gunfire on a crowd of concertgoers in Las Vegas on Monday attached a “bump-stock” to two of his weapons, in effect converting semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic ones.
“The classification of these devices depends on whether they mechanically alter the function of the firearm to fire fully automatic,” said Jill Snyder, ATF Special Agent in Charge. “Bump-fire stocks, while simulating automatic fire, do not actually alter the firearm to fire automatically, making them legal under current federal law. It is still being determined which firearms were used in the shooting.” On a screen before reporters, police displayed a compilation of body camera footage from the attack that showed scenes of chaos amid rapid gunfire.
“Get down, get down, get down!” yells one officer. In another video, an officer instructs people to run. In several frames, the view is obstructed by the officer’s clothing or other obstacles but the audio remains dramatic throughout. Police also confirmed the authenticity of photos showing the interior of Paddock’s suite at the Mandalay Bay hotel taken after the attack. The photos were attained by the German publication Bild and published widely on Tuesday. McMahill said the police have opened an internal investigation into the source of the leaked photos. Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg clarified the number of people who died as a result of the attack: 58. The previously reported number, 59, includes Paddock, whom police believe shot himself.
