After a gunman opened fire on a country music festival from a hotel room on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing at least 58 people and injuring 515 more, the hotel’s security is being criticized.
Stephen Paddock, the 64-year-old Vegas man who gunned down innocent concertgoers on the Vegas strip, killed himself before police entered his hotel room. Authorities say Paddock had occupied the room since Sept. 28, and police found an “excess of 10 rifles” when the room was searched.
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The Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the attack and said that Paddock had converted to Islam in recent months, although senior U.S. officials have said there is no proof of his religious conversion or a connection with the militant group.
Mandalay Bay and other hotels on the strip issued a lockdown Sunday night after the shooting, telling guests to shelter in place. Late Monday morning the resort lifted the lockdown via Twitter, but the announcement garnered a lot of negative attention.
Replying to the lockdown announcement and the hotel’s initial statement following the shooting, guests and other Twitter users criticized the hotel for allowing Paddock to have multiple weapons in his room.
How did a guest with this many weapons get into your hotel?@MandalayBay #lasvegas
— JDallas (@4everLittleSis) October 2, 2017
weapons and ammunition on the 32nd floor of your resort? Definitely missing something & that’s security & metal detectors…
— edgar (@eddykiingz) October 2, 2017
How do you allow one man to get 10 rifles in your hotel on the 32nd floor?
— Lance A. Sievert (@LanceASievert) October 2, 2017
How Those Guns Brought İn To Hotel Room on 32nd Floor.What Kind of Security,You Have??? Explain!!!
— Lonely Roads USA (@obdream) October 2, 2017
Others slammed the hotel for not having stricter security practices in place, whether that means luggage screenings upon check-in or changes to the security guard protocol.
Don’t you guys have luggage screening before a guest checks in? #LasVegasShooting
— Siddharth Singh (@onlysiddharth) October 2, 2017
Not to be unreasonable, stayed there 2 weeks ago. Shoots out a window and fires for 5 min straight before any security gets to him?
— Erik Lengyel (@Erik_Lengyel) October 2, 2017
So why are your security personnel unarmed? You could’ve saved a life, you realize that?
— adam rosal (@ayr1016) October 2, 2017
The hotel released an official statement on Twitter.
“This evening there was a tragic active shooter situation at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip. Law enforcement and emergency personnel responded quickly to the incident and secured the scene. Law enforcement requested that we put hotels in the vicinity on lockdown to ensure guest safety. We will provide more information as it becomes available,” the statement read.
Attached to the image of the statement was a Tweet that read, “Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims of last night’s tragic events. We’re grateful for the immediate actions of our first responders.”
If you are looking for a loved one in the Las Vegas area, you can call 866-535-5654.
