It’s been 12 days since the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history and there are still plenty of questions remaining about what exactly happened on October 1 when Stephen Paddock opened fire on the thousands at the Route 91 Country Music Festival. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo is still frustrated that investigators don’t know everything, including the motive.
“You immediately think you’re gonna know the reasons why in the short term. Now, here we are a week after the fact, and we still don’t know,” Lomdardo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Tuesday.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Up Next: Las Vegas Police Address Shifting Shooting Timeline, Warn It Could Change Again
He agreed that finding the answers won’t help just the investigators understand the crime, but can also give the victims’ families closure. “I think there needs to be some closure for myself, for the Police Department and the public,” he said.
Lombardo’s comments come at a critical point for the investigation, especially as the shifting timeline of events comes under outside scrutiny. Earlier this week, Lombardo said there was a six-minute period between the time Paddock wounded Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos and the time Paddock started firing out his 32nd-floor window at the crowd below.
MGM Resorts, which owns the Mandalay Bay, disputed that account. MGM said Campos called in that shots were fired within a minute of Paddock starting to fire out his window.
“We know that shots were being fired at the festival lot at the same time as, or within 40 seconds after, the time Jesus Campos first reported that shots were fired over the radio,” MGM said in the statement. “Metro officers were together with armed Mandalay Bay security officers in the building when Campos first reported that shots were fired over the radio.”
The two sides continue to disagree on the timeline. Lombard said Campos was shot at 9:59 p.m., and Paddock started firing six minutes later. Police say he continued firing until 10:15 p.m. MGM said the 9:59 time might be inaccurate and also suggests that police and security “immediately responded to the 32nd floor,” reports the Washington Post. But Lombardo said police didn’t get to Paddock’s room until 10:17 p.m.
More: Bellhop Reportedly Helped Las Vegas Gunman Bring Bags in Freight Elevator
“It’s important for people to know what I know, when I know it. Just to calm the public,” Lombardo told the Review-Journal Tuesday.
The shooting was the deadliest in U.S. history, with 58 killed and nearly 500 others injured. Paddock was found dead by police in his hotel room when they arrived.
