Police to release witness accounts of Vegas Strip shooting

LAS VEGAS — Police in Las Vegas planned Wednesday to release witness statements and officer reports in the investigation of last year’s mass shooting that killed 58 people and injured hundreds in the deadliest event of its kind in modern U.S. history.

The scheduled release of documents comes more than seven months after a gunman opened fire Oct. 1 from a casino highrise into a concert crowd of 22,000 people at an open-air venue on the Las Vegas Strip. Courts ordered the release in a public records lawsuit by The Associated Press and several other media organizations.

The department two weeks ago released video from two officers’ body cameras showing police blasting through the door of the 32nd-floor hotel suite where authorities say gunman Stephen Paddock killed himself before officers arrived.

Paddock is seen motionless on his back with a pool of blood near his head and a cache of weapons strewn about.

Police and the FBI have said they don’t know a motive for the attack, but that they believe Paddock acted alone and the attack had no link to international terrorism.

Media outlets sued to obtain videos, 911 recordings, evidence logs and interview reports to shed light on the response by public agencies, emergency workers and hotel officials during and after the shooting.

Department lawyers who opposed releasing the information called the public records request costly and time-consuming, and said it could disclose investigative techniques. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said early this month the police investigation was not finished, and pointedly apologized for the release of information that he said would “further traumatize a wounded community.”

A preliminary report released by Lombardo in January said Paddock meticulously planned the attack and scouted potential targets in at least four cities.