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New York Times Analysis: A New Shooting Timeline

Windows on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay broken out by the shooter Stephen Paddock.
Brent Holmes

Windows on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay broken out by the shooter Stephen Paddock.

Yet another timeline of the October 1 shooting on the Las Vegas Strip has emerged, this time from a video analysis by staff at the New York Times.

More than 500 people were injured and 58 were killed by Stephen Paddock. The retired 64-year-old fired guns rigged to shoot like automatic weapons into a crowd of 22,000 concert-goers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival.

Paddock fired at them from the 32nd floor of his suite at Mandalay Bay, about a quarter mile from the concert grounds.

The New York Times broke down some 30 videos taken from social media sites, the Associated Press and police. 

The paper determined that shooter Stephen Paddock shot out of his window first at 10:05 p.m. He fired just single shots, said Malachy Browne, New York Times senior story producer.

Browne speculated that Paddock might have been shooting at fuel tanks at nearby McCarran International Airport, or he might have been shooting to see if he needed to adjust his targeting on his weapons. Police later found elevation and distance calculations in Paddock's hotel room that they said could have been used to help him shoot more accurately.

Then, video shows, Paddock started shooting what sounds like automatic fire into the festival crowd, which is when some people started to leave.

Around the same time, Browne said, is when Paddock shot at Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos, who had come to the 32nd floor to investigate a jammed security door.

FROM NPR: Wounded Mandalay Bay Security Guard Gives 1st Interview on 'Ellen'

Paddock shot through his hotel room door and hit Campos in the leg.

Soon after, the Times reported, Paddock again opened fire on the crowd of people at the festival about a quarter-mile away.

Browne said the Times became interested in the timeline because initial reports "didn't make sense."

"There certainly were shifting narratives at the start," Browne said, referring to initial press conferences by Las Vegas police officials. "And those didn’t make sense, that a gunman who had been planning this for months was  interrupted by a security guard and then would wait six minutes to begin the assault.”  

While no one from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has contacted Browne, he said he expects police and the FBI to be working on their own timeline.

For more on the shooting: Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting

Malachy Browne, senior story producer, New York Times

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Joe Schoenmann joined Nevada Public Radio in 2014. He works with a talented team of producers at State of Nevada who explore the casino industry, sports, politics, public health and everything in between.