As a survivor of the Las Vegas shooting and having dodged bullets while watching others shot, reading the Las Vegas Police Report today left most victims of the shooting and many people across the country empty and upset. Here is why.
First, the report fails to address the monumental issue of why it took 52 minutes from the time the Vegas PD learned of the shooting until someone from the police department reached the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay (even after the Vegas PD was told the exact floor number)! How convenient of Sheriff Lombardo to omit this inquiry from the report. Why wasn’t this issue copiously investigated? Who plans to investigate why it took 52 minutes for police officers to arrive on the 32nd floor? Obviously, 10 months out and we still have NO information on this leading many people across this country to believe that this crucial omission/error will never be properly investigated which is a slap in the face to not only victims of the shooting but average folk who want to ensure that this potential breach of proper police protocol does not happen again in the event of another shooting.
Second, there is NO mention in the report of how this mass shooting was permitted to happen on the watch of Mandalay Bay. The world already knows that Steven Paddock acted alone! Sheriff Lombardo has been proclaiming this from day 1 within moments of the shooting. So ten months later, after thousands of hours of work and countless pieces of evidence, Lombardo tells us what we all knew and tells us nothing about how it is that a responsible Vegas casino could allow this to occur especially after a credible ISIS threat in May 2017 and especially after a convicted felon was found in a Mandalay Bay Suite with assault weapons, one of which allegedly facing the Vegas strip! The report is completely devoid of any mention of what went wrong in allowing this to happen and what can be done in the future to PREVENT this from happening again. This report signifies that the Las Vegas PD has never sought to seek out answers on how this could have been prevented. Instead, reaffirming its alliance with MGM executives from day 1. This investigation was never about ensuring future public safety but rather about ensuring Vegas Casino preservation and Vegas public image.
Last, Sheriff Lombardo has the audacity to comment on whether this mass shooting was “terrorism” by suggesting that it may be “state-related” terrorism? This is irresponsible and evidences a clear conflict of interest in this inquiry and again warranting a truly “independent” investigation. This has never been an “independent” investigation. Within minutes of the shooting, Lombardo declared that this was a “lone wolf” shooter with NO links to terrorism. Now that Sheriff Lombardo learned that his pals at MGM have asserted immunity from lawsuits under the SAFETY Act, he wiggles his nose and does a Bewitched immitation and now becomes an expert on state terrorism in an attempt to help MGM escape civil liability. Nobody told Sheriff Lombardo and MGM that this Safety Act does not even apply and no immunity will be afforded because the flawed security that led to this mass shooting stemmed internally from negligent Mandalay Bay employees NOT this security company (CSC) that handled only the concert venue. His irresponsible comments on whether this is state terrorism again confirm a patent conflict of interest that the Vegas PD had in investigating this shooting in the first place due to its close work relationship with the MGM executives and issues of improper police protocol in taking 52 minutes to respond to the 32nd floor. Does anyone really expect Vegas PD to call out their MGM pals and to investigate themselves on the response time? In the end, this 187-page report does nothing more than underscore the desperate need for a truly “independent” investigation of the worst mass shooting in US history.