Police Department responds to MGM’S release of video

In response to a request for comment on MGM Resorts releasing the security footage showing Stephen Paddock, the

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department released the following statement:

“The LVMPD has received numerous requests for comment in response to the MGM releasing surveillance footage of the suspect in the 1 October shooting.

“The MGM owns the footage and has the right to release it. The LVMPD, to include Sheriff Joe Lombardo, have no comment about the release and do not wish to provide any additional interviews regarding this matter.”

Several lawyers suing MGM also weighed in on the video.

Brian Claypool, an attorney who survived the shooting and represents over 50 victims, said in a statement that Mandalay Bay employees should have noted the number of bags Paddock brought to his room as a red flag.

“What is ‘normal’ to the Mandalay Bay and MGM is unacceptable, highly irresponsible and frightening in the eyes of many people, especially victims of this mass shooting,” he said.

The videos do not absolve MGM Resorts from legal responsibility, said Antonio Romanucci, a Chicago-based attorney whose firm has filed lawsuits on behalf of 14 victims of the shooting.

Romanucci, whose lawsuit names as defendants MGM, concert organizer Live Nation and the main manufacturer of the bump stock device that allowed Paddock to shoot faster, said he wants to speak with the MGM employees who interacted with Paddock.

“I don’t see how this video helps,” he said. “They certainly should have known he was doing something nefarious with all the bags he was bringing in.”

Contact Wade Tyler Millward at wmillward@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-4602. Follow @ wademillward on Twitter. ReviewJournal staff writer Blake Apgar contributed to this report.