Gunman shot security guard before targeting concert-goers

Police have made a significant change to the timeline of the Las Vegas mass shooting, saying the gunman shot a hotel security guard before he opened fire on concert-goers.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo had previously said the guard was shot after Stephen Paddock fired at the country music festival and that the guard’s arrival in the hallway of the Mandalay Bay hotel may have caused him to stop firing.

Mr Lombardo said security guard Jesus Campos was in a hallway of the Mandalay Bay hotel responding to a report of an open door when he heard drilling from Paddock’s room.

Paddock, who had installed three cameras to monitor the approach to his suite, opened fire through the door, spraying 200 shots down the hall and wounding the guard, who alerted other security officials.

A few minutes later, Paddock began raining down bullets in an attack that killed 58 people – the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

Authorities also said the gunman targeted aviation fuel tanks, stocked his car with explosives and had personal protection gear as part of an escape plan.

Mr Lombardo again expressed frustration with the pace of the investigation, but not with the investigators who have yet to pinpoint the motive behind Paddock’s decision to fire on a crowd of 22,000 on October 1.

“It’s because this individual purposely hid his actions leading up to this event, and it is difficult for us to find the answers to those actions,” Mr Lombardo said. “We believe he decided to take the lives he did and he had a very purposeful plan that he carried out.”

There is still no evidence Paddock was motivated by ideology, or that there was another gunman, he said.