Metro releases latest batch of Oct. 1 records

Video recorded by police shows venue aftermath

Less than an hour after the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting, a group of Las Vegas police officers scanned the festival grounds, searching for survivors.

“Metro police!” one yells, according to newly released body camera footage. “If you’re alive, sound off!”

People are on the ground. But there is no response. The only sound is the clanking and scraping of cans and water bottles as the officers wade through the littered field. A blaring police radio barks updates. “Sound off!” another officer yells. Once again, though, there is no response.

“Multiple down here,” an officer says more quietly.

“We’ve got one more in front of us,” another says.

The video was one of 46 released Wednesday. It marked the 25th court-ordered release since early May of Metropolitan Police Department audio, video or documents from the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting, which left 58 concertgoers dead and hundreds more injured.

Another video shows a similar scene about an hour later, when a different group of officers guides a group of paramedics into the venue, protecting them as the crew also searches for survivors. But once again, there are none.

“I got a woman down here,” the officer filming the footage says, standing near the Route 91 stage. “I got a man down there. I got a man down at our 9 o’clock.”

A paramedic checks the bodies and uses the term “419,” which is police code for dead, to confirm that there is no pulse.

“Oh, my God,” the officer says with a sigh.

About a minute later, the same officer says, “I got two more straight ahead.”

“Three more,” he adds. “Four, five. I got six right in front of me.”

Someone in the background counts, “11, 12, 13, 14, 15.”

“I have one more black tag,” a paramedic chimes in, referring to the tags they use to indicate that the dead have been evaluated. “I think you get 20 of each.”

Many times, the officer again sighs or swears to himself. Once the paramedics have finished scanning the field, the officer filming the footage stops and chats with a group of first responders.

“All these innocent people, just one minute listening to music and next thing you’re taking rounds,” he says. “Imagine everybody pushing each other, running over each other. If I would have been here with my kids, I would have lost my (expletive) mind.”

A few minutes later, he says he doesn’t want to be a cop anymore.

“Dude, I got three years left. I’m out. I’m done with this (expletive) job,” he says. “I’m going go do something else. Seriously.”

Seconds later, he adds, “I mean, you can’t even take your kid to a concert.”

Police previously released more than 3,000 pages of witness statements and officer reports as well as 911 calls and other body camera footage. A Las Vegas Review-Journal examination of those records found that many officers experienced communication problems during the mass shooting response.

The newspaper and other media organizations sued for the records in the days after the shooting. Metro fought their release for months, then began handing over the records in batches of varying size and type after a court forced the department to comply.

Metro said it will release another batch next week.