Las Vegas police shift mass shooting timeline, still have no motive

The Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas
(Image credit: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

Eight days after Stephen Paddock shot nearly 500 people, killing at least 58 of them, investigators still don't have any answers to the big outstanding question: Why? Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters on Monday that he is "frustrated" because "this individual purposefully hid his actions leading up to this event, and it is difficult for us to find answers for those actions." Discovering the motive is "our most important goal," he said.

But when pressed by reporters, Lombardo said there were some "minute changes" to the timeline, notably that Paddock shot Mandalay Bay security guard Jose Campos at 9:59 p.m., six minutes before open firing on the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert below, not at 10:18 p.m., three minutes after the shooting ended. He said Campos had responded to a door alarm on the 32nd floor, not Paddock's door, adding that he would not assume that wounding Campos sped up Paddock's mass shooting. Last week, Lombardo speculated that Campos' presence might have caused Paddock to stop shooting concertgoers. Investigators do not know why he stopped firing after 10 minutes, or when he shot himself.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.