At least 20 dead, 100 injured at shooting on Las Vegas Strip

[GreyhoundFan]

The other thing is, Vegas hotels are HUGE. I go to Vegas a couple of times a year, so I'm used to it, but my BFF accompanied me for a milestone birthday and she was just shocked at the size of the resorts. She kept exclaiming about it. Mandalay Bay has over 3,300 rooms. They aren't going to notice someone coming in and out with suitcases, especially if he did it over a couple of days. I heard he checked in three or more days ago. It's not like a small hotel, where the desk clerk sees everyone and would notice someone bringing an inordinate amount of luggage in. I can't imagine if they try to put some sort of screening in, how much of a delay/backup that would cause. I usually stay at the Bellagio, and it's not unusual to wait for 30-45 minutes at check in, even with many front desk agents working hard. Mandalay Bay is about the same size, so I would imagine it would be just as bad.

A sheriff's office spokesperson said that there were so many people lining up to donate blood in the Las Vegas area that the Red Cross is making appointments, they are booked through Thursday.

[MarblesMom]

23 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

One day our group was at a mall for about an hour and they had screening at the mall entrances.

I once was employed by a mall company and they were So.Not.Going.There.

Soft targets... but not wanting to be unfriendly to shoppers.... sigh.

[Maggie Mae]

1 minute ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I heard he checked in three or more days ago. It's not like a small hotel, where the desk clerk sees everyone and would notice someone bringing an inordinate amount of luggage in. I can't imagine if they try to put some sort of screening in, how much of a delay/backup that would cause.

And even if they did notice an inordinate amount of luggage, that's not illegal.  People go to Vegas to shop.  People go for shows.  Rich people bring tons of shit with them.  

I can't imagine life where we have to show our papers to get on a plane,  get searched,  then searched at the hotel.  

Most of the casinos are connected by tunnels or catwalks.  Do we search people at every door? Vegas already has a ton of security and cameras everywhere.  

Which is another odd bit - I'm surprised we haven't seen security footage of him checking in or something equally dumb.  

We've stayed at the Cosmopolitan and Aria. Aria smells nicer and was less douchy, but both were very professional hotels. I never once saw or heard from the cleaning staff, yet they managed to clean every day. I wonder if they noticed anything or if he just didn't leave his room for days.

[OtterRuletheWorld]

9 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

The other thing is, Vegas hotels are HUGE. I go to Vegas a couple of times a year, so I'm used to it, but my BFF accompanied me for a milestone birthday and she was just shocked at the size of the resorts. She kept exclaiming about it. Mandalay Bay has over 3,300 rooms. They aren't going to notice someone coming in and out with suitcases, especially if he did it over a couple of days. I heard he checked in three or more days ago. It's not like a small hotel, where the desk clerk sees everyone and would notice someone bringing an inordinate amount of luggage in. I can't imagine if they try to put some sort of screening in, how much of a delay/backup that would cause. I usually stay at the Bellagio, and it's not unusual to wait for 30-45 minutes at check in, even with many front desk agents working hard. Mandalay Bay is about the same size, so I would imagine it would be just as bad.

A sheriff's office spokesperson said that there were so many people lining up to donate blood in the Las Vegas area that the Red Cross is making appointments, they are booked through Thursday.

I travel to Vegas often too, but stay on the northern part of the strip. I have been saying for awhile that it is just a matter of time before something happens in Vegas

[OtterRuletheWorld]

7 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

And even if they did notice an inordinate amount of luggage, that's not illegal.  People go to Vegas to shop.  People go for shows.  Rich people bring tons of shit with them.  

I can't imagine life where we have to show our papers to get on a plane,  get searched,  then searched at the hotel.  

Most of the casinos are connected by tunnels or catwalks.  Do we search people at every door? Vegas already has a ton of security and cameras everywhere.  

Which is another odd bit - I'm surprised we haven't seen security footage of him checking in or something equally dumb.  

We've stayed at the Cosmopolitan and Aria. Aria smells nicer and was less douchy, but both were very professional hotels. I never once saw or heard from the cleaning staff, yet they managed to clean every day. I wonder if they noticed anything or if he just didn't leave his room for days.

I don't want to see everything become a complete 'police state'. I want people to stop being assholes.  I have moved across the country a couple of times. I cannot imagine adding searches to checking into hotels.

The odd bit about the security footage is where I was going with how he got a fully automatic weapon into the hotel without any security footage of this guy being released. There are cameras all over Vegas and what do we have of this guy? Yet, we manage to get video footage of SO many other terrorist attacks and shootings....but not anything from the one in Vegas?

[candygirl200413]

So when this happened I thought about the tobacco industry with the movie The Insider with Russell Crowe which I kind of vaguely remember but I guess I was like if we could put some type of regulations (it obviously can be improved) on Tobacco, why can't it apply to guns?

[adidas]

I don't know if I have any words left anymore. I'm Australian, so I really just don't understand.

I thought this worth sharing though.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/mass-shootings-in-america/

[adidas]

Adding this link. It just popped up on my Facebook. 

Why Australians don't understand:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/heres-why-australia-will-never-understand-the-us-obsession-with-guns-20171003-gyt7ys.html

[SnazzyNazzy]

9 hours ago, OtterRuletheWorld said:

So bizarre. This is one time, that while I myself am not calling false flag, I am not at all shocked people jumped to that narrative. It is always to be expected, but the whole thing is strange.

I mean, the guy managed to get a FULLY automatic weapon and a whole plethora of other stuff into his giant suite? Who the heck was this guy? He is some wealthy real estate guy (I think that is what I read?) and his father was some big time bank robber? His wife (?) isn't in the country and they are currently going through a divorce? And he had a gambling issue?

I almost wonder if this was some kind of blackmail because of his gambling? But I have also just read bits today and maybe I am missing a part of the puzzle that makes this unlikely.

I'm with you, in thinking this whole thing is bizarre. Something is rotten in Denmark with this.

I just can't help but think, that if this guy was a black guy, or a guy with a foreign name, we would know EVERYTHING they have done in their life, including getting suspended in 3rd grade for pulling little Suzy's hair.

My mom is convinced that ISIS has something to do with it, which had made me have a good long think. If this guy actually was involved with ISIS, would our government admit it? A really big part of me, thinks that they wouldn't, mainly because he totally goes against what our government wants us BELIEVE Muslim terrorists look like. Ever since 9/11 and Al Queda, and all of the ISIS terrorist attacks, the American public has been force fed the idea, that all Muslim terrorists are brown, middle eastern dudes, named Mohammed. America just simply cannot have their white folk be connected to something like ISIS (/end sarcasm)

I'm not saying that this is or isn't an ISIS thing. This attack just made me wonder, what our government would do, if a seemingly normal, white American person, did do something for ISIS. Plus I am really struggling to believe that they can't find a damn thing about a guy, who has an arsenal of 42+ weapons, plus explosives, plus god knows what else.

[GreyhoundFan]

8 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

We've stayed at the Cosmopolitan and Aria. Aria smells nicer and was less douchy, but both were very professional hotels. I never once saw or heard from the cleaning staff, yet they managed to clean every day. I wonder if they noticed anything or if he just didn't leave his room for days.

He could have just had the "do not disturb" hangtag up. I often don't have them clean my room while I'm there. I don't need anyone to make my bed and don't really want to have someone in the room when I'm not there. And, yes, I still tip, even though Vegas housekeepers are unionized and earn better wages and benefits than those in other locations.

You were right about the staff members in Vegas being used to rich people with a ton of luggage. Said rich people are often, um, eccentric, so the guy may not have set off any red flags. I remember early one Sunday morning when I was playing my usual nickel poker slots (I am the opposite of a high roller!), there were two guys at the blackjack table next to me. They looked like vagrants. Then I saw the little card that indicated the minimum bet was $5,000 a hand. Blackjack moves fast, especially with only a few players. I watched them drop a huge amount of money. They could have been extremely wealthy, but certainly didn't look like it.

[Howl]

I think they do know a lot about the guy.  He was a professional gambler who gambled online and in person.  He acquired guns legally while passing all background checks. He had two planes and held a valid pilot's license.  He invested in real estate.  He was an accountant.  He had a traffic ticket once.  His dad was a psychopath who went to prison for robbing a bank; Mom raised the kids alone and told them that their father was dead.  He lived in a Sun City retirement community;  the next door neighbors said he was a zero personality wise. His brothers say he had no military background or interest in guns, that they knew about. 

My sense is that he's a lone wolf murderer who wanted to share his pain with the world by taking a huge number of people with him; hopefully his computer will yield some clues about what was going on in his life, his mental health or lack of it, and his grievances (and there will be grievances). There might be a suicide note/manifesto, but who knows. 

This brings to mind an incident in my city that happened in 2010 -- there seem to be some parallels: close in age, pilots who both owned two planes, childhood trauma/instability, twice married, intelligent.  Joseph Stack (age 54) committed suicide by flying one of his two small planes into a building that contained an IRS field office and he set his house on fire before he did so.  He had ongoing and very long standing issues related to non-payment of state and federal taxes.  He was orphaned at age four and spent time in a Catholic orphanage, and (IIRC) he also witnessed the suicide of one parent.  He was a twice-married software engineer and a musician in his mid-fifties.  As a suicide note, he left a manifesto with a long list of grievances.   2010 Austin suicide attack

Not sure where I'm going with this, just two guys relatively later in life whose lives were unraveling who decided to end things in a horrible way.  Whether they were both disaffected to the extreme or were in actual psychosis we will likely never know. 

One thing that has kind of chapped me arse is that while the possibility of ISIS involvement and outside (as in foreign terrorists) ties has been discussed endlessly, NO ONE  has brought up the possibility of domestic terrorism.  Not one word, not one person.   I think this is a lone-wolf attack, but if you are discussing terrorism, it can be foreign or domestic and we forget that at our peril. 

 

 

[onekidanddone]

Reading here so so many of you echo my feelings. Numb. Tired of it. Outrage fatigue is taking hold in or nation. The politicians don't care. All  they want is money and power. Power and money.  I don't doubt the sincerity of some who offer prayers, but they are in the minority.  The big wigs, the ones who could something ANYTHING..won't even start the conversation on guns in this country. I say every election cycle post the body count next to a candidate who takes money from the NRA. Just like in NASCAR,  I want to see their sponsors.  People are falling all over themselves because Trump was able to read a few trite words off a teleprompter. Yea, that means shit. Wait a few days he will be sick of the leash and open his tiny little hands twitter.

[47of74]

9 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

The other thing is, Vegas hotels are HUGE. I go to Vegas a couple of times a year, so I'm used to it, but my BFF accompanied me for a milestone birthday and she was just shocked at the size of the resorts. She kept exclaiming about it. Mandalay Bay has over 3,300 rooms. They aren't going to notice someone coming in and out with suitcases, especially if he did it over a couple of days. I heard he checked in three or more days ago. It's not like a small hotel, where the desk clerk sees everyone and would notice someone bringing an inordinate amount of luggage in. I can't imagine if they try to put some sort of screening in, how much of a delay/backup that would cause. I usually stay at the Bellagio, and it's not unusual to wait for 30-45 minutes at check in, even with many front desk agents working hard. Mandalay Bay is about the same size, so I would imagine it would be just as bad.

A sheriff's office spokesperson said that there were so many people lining up to donate blood in the Las Vegas area that the Red Cross is making appointments, they are booked through Thursday.

Yeah I sure as hell hope hotels don't get a wild hair up their hinders about having screening everywhere or thinking that everyone bringing in more than a tiny carry on bag is a sceeery tewwowwwwist because of this butt wipe in Las Vegas.  During my on campus weeks I not only have a bit of clothes, but also my school stuff.  So I'm not exactly traveling light then. 

And it's worse if the hotel has a second floor and doesn't have an elevator, like the one I stayed at in August.   

[GrumpyGran]

Catching up here because I had to take yesterday off, finding now that I have to take lots of time off from the reality of our world because it's so depressing.

I agree that this guy is a mystery. If anyone had an inclination that he might be bringing a bit too much luggage in, they probably were reassured when he went to the casino. As long as he's gambling, he must be ok.

This guy was stock piling worse than an Idaho prepper. Bomb-making materials, more guns than an actual gun shop. If he was seriously psychotic it seems there would have been some signs earlier. Odd behavior, or more run-ins with the law.

One thing I thought was possibly a fatal illness diagnosis. But how do you hide hatred this deep for this long? And the amount of money he was spending? Wow. It's a bit strange that this woman in his life was out of the country when it happened. She will probably reveal a lot. When we can get to her. Was she running for her life? Did she see the end coming?

Hubs will be off to FL panhandle to get together with old Air Force friends in a few weeks. I don't know most of them, so I'm not going. Now I know I wouldn't be able to listen to some of them's bullshit with out punching them. He's glad I'm not going.

[OtterRuletheWorld]

59 minutes ago, GrumpyGran said:

Catching up here because I had to take yesterday off, finding now that I have to take lots of time off from the reality of our world because it's so depressing.

I agree that this guy is a mystery. If anyone had an inclination that he might be bringing a bit too much luggage in, they probably were reassured when he went to the casino. As long as he's gambling, he must be ok.

This guy was stock piling worse than an Idaho prepper. Bomb-making materials, more guns than an actual gun shop. If he was seriously psychotic it seems there would have been some signs earlier. Odd behavior, or more run-ins with the law.

One thing I thought was possibly a fatal illness diagnosis. But how do you hide hatred this deep for this long? And the amount of money he was spending? Wow. It's a bit strange that this woman in his life was out of the country when it happened. She will probably reveal a lot. When we can get to her. Was she running for her life? Did she see the end coming?

Hubs will be off to FL panhandle to get together with old Air Force friends in a few weeks. I don't know most of them, so I'm not going. Now I know I wouldn't be able to listen to some of them's bullshit with out punching them. He's glad I'm not going.

I am only bolding the above to ask you to clarify why you would want to punch them. I am curious.
 

[OtterRuletheWorld]

3 hours ago, SnazzyNazzy said:

I'm with you, in thinking this whole thing is bizarre. Something is rotten in Denmark with this.

I just can't help but think, that if this guy was a black guy, or a guy with a foreign name, we would know EVERYTHING they have done in their life, including getting suspended in 3rd grade for pulling little Suzy's hair.

My mom is convinced that ISIS has something to do with it, which had made me have a good long think. If this guy actually was involved with ISIS, would our government admit it? A really big part of me, thinks that they wouldn't, mainly because he totally goes against what our government wants us BELIEVE Muslim terrorists look like. Ever since 9/11 and Al Queda, and all of the ISIS terrorist attacks, the American public has been force fed the idea, that all Muslim terrorists are brown, middle eastern dudes, named Mohammed. America just simply cannot have their white folk be connected to something like ISIS (/end sarcasm)

I'm not saying that this is or isn't an ISIS thing. This attack just made me wonder, what our government would do, if a seemingly normal, white American person, did do something for ISIS. Plus I am really struggling to believe that they can't find a damn thing about a guy, who has an arsenal of 42+ weapons, plus explosives, plus god knows what else.

At one point in the day, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, stating he had converted to Islam months ago. ISIS likes to claim responsibility for shitty things, so I am not going to take their word for it. Still, I agree with your sentiment, would our government even be forthright with us if that was the case? At the same time, I hope most Americans have a basic understanding that Islam isn't reserved for "brown people".  If they didn't realize this, I would think that the Boston Marathon Bombing would have been a bit of a wake up call if they had never realized white people can be Muslim too. 

Anyway, I honestly don't know that I believe security footage and information is being withheld simply because the guy is white. If that was the case, I think the media would flat out ignore the story and that hasn't happened. I just wonder if it is more complex than "white lone wolf male" and for whatever reason, we aren't being told that. I mean, it is obviously more complex than that and until we know more, all we can do is speculate about his background, his spending, his gambling, his girlfriend or whatever she is...

I am not happy it is a white guy and not a Muslim, because I am sad it happened. It could have so easily been anyone at that concert and this stuff keeps happening. Mass shootings, terrorist attack, etc. I just want people to stop hurting people.

[OtterRuletheWorld]

Adding to the weirdness of all of this, there has been at least one photo leaked of Paddock after killed himself.

This brings me back to the fact that we have yet to see any security footage, have any news of his motives, etc. Just one photo of the guy after he killed himself. It is odd.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

21 hours ago, AlwaysExcited said:

Saw on Twitter: “Run, hide, fight” is going to be this generation’s “stop, drop and roll”.

I hope that "Run, hide, fight" is effective like "Stop, drop, and roll". Some days with all these shootings that keep happening, it seems about as helpful as the Cold War nuclear drills where kids were taught to "Duck and cover". 

(video)

Spoiler

 

 

[onekidanddone]

Orange Fuck Face thinks using the word 'miracle' and 'shooting' in the same sentence is just nifty. Didn't he say something similar about PR.   How dead people were a good thing?

[GreyhoundFan]

"He was shot helping people during the Las Vegas shooting. His heroics helped his photo go viral."

Spoiler

LAS VEGAS — Jonathan Smith is likely to spend the rest of his life with a bullet lodged in the left side of his neck, a never-ending reminder of America’s deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Smith, a 30-year-old copy machine repairman, was shot Sunday night while trying to help save people after a gunman opened fire on the crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival in Las Vegas. He knows he’s one of the lucky ones to be able to walk out of the hospital, even with his severe injuries.

As the bullets rained down, family was Smith’s top concern. He had driven to Las Vegas from Orange County, Calif., on Thursday to celebrate the 43rd birthday of his brother, Louis Rust, a big country music fan who had attended the festival in the past. They spent the weekend enjoying the music and had scored seats close to the stage for Jason Aldean’s prime-time performance Sunday night.

When the gunshots started, Smith initially thought they were fireworks. The music kept playing, Smith and Rust recalled. But the bullets kept coming. Aldean looked at his security guards and ran off the stage. Then the lights went out.

Rust realized what was really going on and told the entire extended family — all nine of them — to hold hands and run. By then, it was a stampede.

Smith was focused on saving his nieces — 22, 18 and 17 years old — but they separated in the crowd. He says he turned back toward the stage to look for them, he saw people hunched behind a sheriff patrol car at the northwest edge of the concert lawn. Others were so frightened they didn’t know what to do. He kept shouting, “Active shooter, active shooter, let’s go! We have to run.”

He grabbed people and told them to follow him toward a handicapped parking area in the direction of the airport, away from Las Vegas Boulevard. It was a large field with several rows of vehicles. Smith and the others crouched down behind one of the last rows of cars.

“I got a few people out of there,” Smith said. “You could hear the shots. It sounded like it was coming from all over Las Vegas Boulevard.”

A few young girls weren’t fully hidden. He stood up and moved toward them to urge them to get on the ground. That’s when a bullet struck him in the neck.

“I couldn’t feel anything in my neck. There was a warm sensation in my arm,” said Smith from the Sunrise Hospital lobby Monday afternoon as he was waiting for his final discharge. He has a fractured collarbone, a cracked rib and a bruised lung. The doctors are leaving the bullet in his neck for now. They worry moving it might cause more damage.

“I might have to live with this bullet for the rest of my life,” Smith said, grimacing from the pain. A large white bandage covers the bullet hole.

Smith believes an off-duty San Diego police officer likely saved his life. The officer came over and tried to stop the bleeding and then flagged down passing cars to try to get Smith a ride. Many just drove by, but a pickup truck stopped and Smith was put in the back of it along with several other wounded victims. By then, he was struggling to breathe.

“I really didn’t want to die,” Smith recalled. The off-duty officer kept telling him he would be okay, just as he had said a few minutes earlier to other concertgoers.

Smith later reconnected with his relatives and found out that his nieces — along with the rest of his family — made it out safely.

On Twitter and Reddit, many were quick to hold up Smith as a hero. A photo of Smith has been shared more than 74,000 times, with 177,000 “likes.”

...

“I don’t see myself that way,” he said. “I would want someone to do the same for me. No one deserves to lose a life coming to a country festival.”

I hate when the word hero is misused, but this man is a hero, his actions likely saved others, at his own peril. I hope he is able to recover.

[OtterRuletheWorld]

"He was shot helping people during the Las Vegas shooting. His heroics helped his photo go viral."
Spoiler LAS VEGAS — Jonathan Smith is likely to spend the rest of his life with a bullet lodged in the left side of his neck, a never-ending reminder of America’s deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Smith, a 30-year-old copy machine repairman, was shot Sunday night while trying to help save people after a gunman opened fire on the crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival in Las Vegas. He knows he’s one of the lucky ones to be able to walk out of the hospital, even with his severe injuries.
As the bullets rained down, family was Smith’s top concern. He had driven to Las Vegas from Orange County, Calif., on Thursday to celebrate the 43rd birthday of his brother, Louis Rust, a big country music fan who had attended the festival in the past. They spent the weekend enjoying the music and had scored seats close to the stage for Jason Aldean’s prime-time performance Sunday night.
When the gunshots started, Smith initially thought they were fireworks. The music kept playing, Smith and Rust recalled. But the bullets kept coming. Aldean looked at his security guards and ran off the stage. Then the lights went out.
Rust realized what was really going on and told the entire extended family — all nine of them — to hold hands and run. By then, it was a stampede.
Smith was focused on saving his nieces — 22, 18 and 17 years old — but they separated in the crowd. He says he turned back toward the stage to look for them, he saw people hunched behind a sheriff patrol car at the northwest edge of the concert lawn. Others were so frightened they didn’t know what to do. He kept shouting, “Active shooter, active shooter, let’s go! We have to run.”
He grabbed people and told them to follow him toward a handicapped parking area in the direction of the airport, away from Las Vegas Boulevard. It was a large field with several rows of vehicles. Smith and the others crouched down behind one of the last rows of cars.
“I got a few people out of there,” Smith said. “You could hear the shots. It sounded like it was coming from all over Las Vegas Boulevard.”
A few young girls weren’t fully hidden. He stood up and moved toward them to urge them to get on the ground. That’s when a bullet struck him in the neck.
“I couldn’t feel anything in my neck. There was a warm sensation in my arm,” said Smith from the Sunrise Hospital lobby Monday afternoon as he was waiting for his final discharge. He has a fractured collarbone, a cracked rib and a bruised lung. The doctors are leaving the bullet in his neck for now. They worry moving it might cause more damage.
“I might have to live with this bullet for the rest of my life,” Smith said, grimacing from the pain. A large white bandage covers the bullet hole.
Smith believes an off-duty San Diego police officer likely saved his life. The officer came over and tried to stop the bleeding and then flagged down passing cars to try to get Smith a ride. Many just drove by, but a pickup truck stopped and Smith was put in the back of it along with several other wounded victims. By then, he was struggling to breathe.
“I really didn’t want to die,” Smith recalled. The off-duty officer kept telling him he would be okay, just as he had said a few minutes earlier to other concertgoers.
Smith later reconnected with his relatives and found out that his nieces — along with the rest of his family — made it out safely.
On Twitter and Reddit, many were quick to hold up Smith as a hero. A photo of Smith has been shared more than 74,000 times, with 177,000 “likes.”
...
“I don’t see myself that way,” he said. “I would want someone to do the same for me. No one deserves to lose a life coming to a country festival.”
I hate when the word hero is misused, but this man is a hero, his actions likely saved others, at his own peril. I hope he is able to recover.

There are so many stories that involve people helping one another out and even risking their own lives to help out. We can talk about how bad people are, but most are good. The bad guys are outnumbered.

[47of74]

A classmate just pointed out this part of Isaiah about what the Lord thinks of thoughts and prayers'

Quote

When you spread out your hands in prayer,
    I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood! (Isaiah 1:15) 

Yeah, my thoughts and prayers tolerance is at an all time low.  Fuck that.  It's time for our nation to take action to stem all this horseshit instead of sitting on our hands spouting off about thoughts and prayers all the goddamn time.  

[Cartmann99]

Grab a tissue or hanky. Jimmy Kimmel's monologue from last night:

 

 

[Rachel333]

This image has been going around reddit. It compares some of the comments on the_donald before and after they realized the shooter was a white man.

I did actually think this guy might be liberal considering he targeted a group of people who are more likely to be Republican, but it seems like no one really knows yet if there was anything more to the choice to target this particular group other than sheer numbers.

[Howl]

3 hours ago, OtterRuletheWorld said:

This brings me back to the fact that we have yet to see any security footage, have any news of his motives, etc. Just one photo of the guy after he killed himself. It is odd.

I'm not at all surprised by the lack of security footage.  This hotel has the biggest liability issue on the planet right now + it's an active police/Nevada Investigation Division/FBI and whoever else  investigation.  The "why" is still unknown, but the "who" and "where" parts are solved and the threat is over. No entity has any obligation or an actual reason to release any footage, evidence or information to the public and there's every possibility that the police have asked them not to, or the footage is considered evidence and they can't release it.   There was a little bit of footage and audio of the SWAT team breaking down his door, but that's all I've seen.  

As far as a two-shooter set up, Paddock apparently planned all of this very well.  If you have two rifles set up, you could go from one to the other without pause, reload both and get after it again.