Worker says he told hotel to call 911 before rampage
A maintenance worker said Wednesday he told hotel dispatchers to call police and report a gunman had opened fire with a rifle inside Mandalay Bay before the shooter began firing from his high-rise suite into a crowd at a nearby musical festival.
The revised timeline has renewed questions about whether better communication might have allowed police to respond more quickly and take out the gunman before he committed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Worker Stephen Schuck told NBC News that he was checking out a report of a jammed fire door on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay when he heard gunshots and a hotel security guard, who had been shot in the leg, peeked out from an alcove and told him to take cover.
“As soon as I started to go to a door to my left the rounds started coming down the hallway,” Schuck said. “I could feel them pass right behind my head.
“It was kind of relentless so I called over the radio what was going on,” he said. “As soon as the shooting stopped we made our way down the hallway and took cover again and then the shooting started again.”
Police said Monday they believe gunman Stephen Paddock shot a hotel security guard through the door of his suite six minutes before he unleashed a barrage of bullets into the crowd of concert-goers, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more.
The injured guard used his radio and possibly a hallway phone to also call hotel dispatchers for help.
That account differs from the one police gave last week when they said Paddock fired through the door of his room and injured the unarmed guard after shooting into the crowd.
The company that owns Mandalay Bay has questioned the new timeline.
“We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline,” said Debra DeShong, a spokeswoman for MGM Resorts International. “We believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate.”
Las Vegas police did not respond Tuesday night to questions about the hotel’s statement.
It was unclear if the hotel relayed the information to Las Vegas police, who did not respond to questions about whether hotel security or anyone else in the hotel called 911 to report the gunfire.
Undersheriff Kevin McMahill defended the hotel and said the encounter between Paddock and the security guard and maintenance man disrupted the gunman’s plans.