Nearly a month after Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, killing 58 and injuring hundreds more, investigators and the public alike are still confounded by the events of the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
Police have revised their timeline of the tragedy three separate times, while the company that manages the hotel Paddock used as his sniper spot argues that their version of the timeline — which differs from police’s — is the correct version.
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In such a state of uncertainty, the New York Times‘ video forensics team analyzed over 30 different clips of video footage from the night from all different types of sources to try and put together the most detailed and comprehensive timeline yet.
The Times reported that they used gunfire as structure for the timeline and constructed a video that puts the viewer at the viewpoint of the concert during the attack.
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The video reveals that Paddock fired 12 separate bursts into the crowd and targeted police. About 30 seconds before Paddock fires his first round of automatic gunfire into the crowd, he can be heard firing a few single gunshots, which the Times theorizes could be testing trajectories or firing into the nearby fuel tanks.
While festival goers begin to race toward the exits and hunker down, Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos is responding to an unrelated incident when he comes across Paddock’s room. Paddock becomes aware of Campos and shoots through his suite door, wounding Campos in the leg.
Thirty-six seconds later, Paddock fires more automatic rounds into the front of the crowd. Seventeen seconds pass. A third burst of fire opens up, with Paddock possibly spraying the general area. Just 20 seconds later, a fourth burst hits the crowd. The Times estimates that Paddock fired over 300 rounds in less than two mintues.
Video footage shows concertgoers trying to attend to the wounded.
A break of one minute and 50 seconds suggests that maybe Paddock fired into the hall again. By this time, Campos had called in the shooting to hotel security. This break in time allowed many concertgoers to move to safety.
Police officers arrive and are moving toward the hotel to get eyes on the gunfire.
A fifth burst of 23 bullets in three short volleys emerges. Forty seconds later, more bullets were fired, but they sound further away, suggesting Campos is firing inside again.
More people fled in the minute of lull. Then, a sixth burst of fire erupted. Twenty seconds later, in the seventh burst, Paddock appears to take aim at the police.
Six minutes after the shooting began, Paddock fired an eighth burst. Then, Paddock fires a round directly over a line of cabs outside the Mandalay Bay into the crowd. A cab driver recording the incident says there’s no sign of panic or first responders.
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But upstairs, police were closing in on the gunman. Even as they approach, Paddock unleashes his tenth round of gunfire.
People are fleeing the festival between bursts. A minute and 10 seconds pass before his next assault: a short, unsteady stream, which suggests he’s dealing with a “sluggish” weapon or a different weapon altogether.
His twelfth round of gunfire lasts less than 50 rounds and less than five seconds — his shortest burst yet, at 10:17 p.m.
Police close into Paddock’s room and begin to evacuate the hallway. An hour later, at 11:20 p.m., police breach his room, finding 23 guns and hundreds of rounds of ammo in his suite.
The Times estimates that Paddock shot over 900 rounds into the festival crowd, and police say he fired at least 200 more rounds into the hallway.
Paddock was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
