BREAKING: Las Vegas police bodycam video from Mandalay Bay shooting will be released

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo announced in a press conference on Tuesday that Las Vegas authorities will comply with a supreme court order to release video and audio footage from the night of October 1, when Stephen Paddock opened fire a crowd of Las Vegas concertgoers from his suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino.

Lombardo read from a prepared statement at the press conference live-streamed by KTNV, announcing that police would begin to release the audio and video files to the media on a rolling basis, beginning with bodycam footage from police officers who arrived to the Mandalay Bay’s 32nd floor, where Paddock was staying, after he opened fire on 20,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival that Sunday night. The videos are expected to show the breach of Paddock’s hotel room.

The sheriff spoke begrudgingly about the release of the footage and additional documents relating to the investigation, explaining that it will demand significant resources from the police department and risk re-traumatizing victims, victims’ families, and members of law enforcement who responded to the scene.

The rollout is expected to take at least several months. Sheriff Lombardo said that the bodycam footage will be released tomorrow, and the department’s public information officer later said that further materials will likely be released on a weekly basis.

Sheriff Lombardo cautioned the media and the public not to jump to any conclusions based on any single item that will be released over the course of the next few months. He also warned that footage taken from the concert site where 58 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded is very graphic. The sheriff also said none of the material released will be in any conflict with information authorities have previously released about the investigation.

“That is seen on those videos in no way changes the fact thats we were able to share with you after the crime,” he said.

 

 

[Feature image: GOTPAP/STAR MAX/IPx via Associated Press]