Friday, November 24, 2017

More Rose Fertilizer





So, this information in a "closed" case took only 55 days to release...

Gunman Stephen Paddock fired more than 1,100 rounds the night of the Las Vegas  shooting, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday. 
The new total includes about 200 rounds fired from Paddock’s Mandalay Bay corner suite and into the hallway of the 32nd floor late Oct. 1, injuring hotel security guard Jesus Campos. 
Lombardo was aware of the previously unreported total because the Metropolitan Police Department’s forensics lab is working in conjunction with the FBI to process all ballistics evidence from the mass shooting, which left 58 concertgoers dead and more than 500 injured. 
Investigators have not determined why Paddock stopped shooting. Lombardo said they found about 4,000 more rounds of unused ammunition in the gunman’s suite. 
The sheriff also mentioned that “multiple weapons” had jammed, as the Review-Journal has previously reported, but Lombardo again did not provide a specific number. He also did not provide a detailed list of the weapons Paddock had available to him. 
Investigators still have not determined the gunman’s motive.
Top. Men.



So, to recap, that leaves us with a .196 average, with gunfire hits on 216 or so out of 1100 attempts (and notably, only 1 out of 200 on Campos in the hallway at a range measured in inches), while firing at a crowded outdoor concert with 22,000 attendees at a venue the size of a WWII aircraft carrier. If you look at the concert goer average, it was about .010, or about what, in baseball, selects you to be a designated peanut vendor.

This wasn't just the worst shooting in U.S. history, it was the worst shooter in US history. The last time America saw someone shoot this badly, it was the roommate in Frank Whaley's apartment in Pulp Fiction, right before Vincent and Jules blow him away.


The only other time there were this many rounds fired in Vegas with so little pay-off was in Clint Eastwood's The Gauntlet.


Thank the heavens for small mercies in the case of the concert-goers.

And despite nearly two months, they still haven't identified the weapons involved, but have notified us that multiple weapons "jammed". Y'know, like they do when you shoot them.

And oh, BTW, they have no idea why Paddock is supposed to have started shooting.
Nor why he stopped.
Nor why he quit with over 4,000 additional rounds remaining.

I repeat, this wasn't a mass shooting as much as it was a photo op. One or two weapons is a shooter. Twenty-three is a press release.

And quitting while fully healthy, with over 80% of your rounds remaining?

The simple answer is that the shooter didn't want to get caught. And didn't.

But he (or they) left us Schmuck Paddock, helpfully already dead on the suite floor, likely the exact same place he was when the shooting started, as he/they made their retreat a full 10 minutes before anyone from LVMPD arrived to secure the shooting scene's perimeter.

And both the Clark County Sheriff's Department and the FBI know this, but they have no idea who they're actually looking for, so they don't want to reveal that nugget.

Or, alternatively, they know exactly who they're looking for, and don't want to reveal that nugget.

Either way, once again:
Top. Men.

And we've known, since 55 minutes after it stopped, that no terrorism was involved, because Far Beyond Insanity told us that.

Which tells you where the case files and evidence are going when this is all over.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Soooo...nearly two months later we know the same three things;
1. Bunch of people got shot (and shot at)
2. This Paddock guy's head-shot body was found in the suite
3. This whole thing STINKS

Boat Guy

Dan said...

If Paddock was actually clever but inexperienced with firearms he may not have known that AR pattern rifles don't run well dry....and can jam after a couple hundred rounds. While I agree that the whole thing stinks like last week's fish and it's possible someone else was involved it's just as possible the Paddock did act alone and it's his lack of real world experience with AR's that kept a horrific event from being worse. Either way we are NEVER going to know all the facts.....there is something, some fact, some info they want kept secret for some reason and the FBI etc are keeping a lid on this.

RSR said...

We also still don't know:
1) why the cop who made entry into the suite fired his weapon while in the suite?
2) why if only "18 30-round magazines of .308 ammunition and 15 40-round magazines of .223 ammunition" ( https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/authorities-still-not-clear-on-who-stephen-paddock-was/ ) loaded and ready for action, a "meticulous planner" who had "planned to get away" had an additional 2800 loose rounds in suite?
3) whether anyone else was in the room with him?
4) what time the windows were broken (have repeatedly seen that the hotel's security system should have noted/recorded)?
5) why did patrol officers make entry over an hour after shots started being fired? why not make entry sooner? why not SWAT making entry if waiting over an hour?
6) is 1100 rounds in 9 minutes, ~2 rounds per second, plausible given a shooter with his (in)experience, especially with multiple jammed weapons, and him seemingly firing at least one .308 AR w/ 20-30 round mags as well and several other mag changes...?

RSR said...

*7) Why have that many malfunctions with high end ARs?

In re to Dan -- Paddock allegedly shot regularly in the desert near his home. He was filmed going to desert a day or two before shooting around about the time he purchased the ruger bolt gun. Surely he would have practiced... Also, 1100 rounds/3 guns = 367 rounds per gun. 1100 rounds/4 guns = 275 rounds per gun. Assuming at least factory lube in place, that's a very high malfunction rate for decent brass (saw somewhere discussion of headstamp, but brass and not steel) and considering he was allegedly meticulous, a planner, proficient w/ firearms, etc, including read owner manuals that all discuss proper lubricant...

Generally dry, recently cleaned, and decent quality ARs get 500-900 rounds before jamming w/ mag dumps.

Older than I am said...

Maybe he got Bored?
Like when you're a kid blowing things up. Wow, that was cool. Do it again! Eventually you get bored.
Except this time, it's not going to be going back home hoping Mom doesn't find out.



robins111 said...

That twit could get a job as an Empire Trooper in the Star Wars world

loren said...

The ability to buy a bunch of guns and 2 days of practice does not an expert make. A poor hit rate and jams from mis-loaded mags is par for the course for mall ninjas and wannabe bad guys.

RSR said...

Loren -- don't disagree, but relatively consistent rate of fire from audio indicates a practiced slidefire shooter IMO.
We've also been told in regards to Paddock that "he's not a gun guy" and "an avid gun guy w/ intimate knowledge of 2A." We also know that allegedly he had casinos shampoo carpets with plain water prior to his stays and his foreign girlfriend "looked plain" and didn't wear perfume or makeup due to the same allergies... Chronically debilitating allergies and avid shooter really don't align IMO, but YMMV.

Regardless, with that many high quality weapons weapons, that many unfired mags, and the meticulous planner profile, the math still seems off to me provided he had backup weapons in place (presumably with mags all in battery and round in chamber), etc, preparations. Also, these aren't AK drum mags either. The 40 round 5.56 mags are almost certainly the PMAG extendeds. We know he had the surefire 4 stack mags. Neither have any secret or special procedure for loading and ensuring performance. And his brass appeared to be milspec/equivalent brass cartridges so unlikely he was shooting crap ammo that would have repeatedly jammed either.

Not discounting your perspective -- I just don't see that the "facts" currently presented/known align with some unpracticed shooter nutjob style conspiracy... We've seen that before and many fewer rounds were fired/much greater number of malfunctions in those scenarios...

RSR said...

Older than I am -- While crazy is crazy, I don't see "bored" as explaining it... Possible the adrenaline awoke him from some blood stupor, and he killed himself after realizing extent of his actions -- real or imagined.
Possible he thought he was setting the first stage of a larger plan in motion and killed himself after realizing he'd been duped.
Possible he was a patsy and real shooter escaped.
Possible he was real shooter and handler shot him and escaped rather than allow full plan of destruction to be realized.

Bored doesn't strike me as possible (even if bored, surely he'd find some otherway to amuse himself destructively if not just by making loud noises/drawing attention). Suicide by cop doesn't strike me as possible given same as above/not presenting oneself as a consistent threat.
The other "partially committed crazy guy scenarios" also don't seem to fit.

RSR said...

*blind, drug-induced stupor...

js said...

Maybe they are selling us this steaming pile of BS to avoid mentioning the attempted assassination of the Saudi Prince. Too many helicopters, accounts of multiple shooters at multiple locations by multiple witnesses (some of whom are now dead from "accidents") to account for with their wounded narrative. So the MSM dropped the Weinstein bomb and this story got scrubbed.

We really only know one thing for certain: Paddock did not do this

Barton said...

I just returned from doing a little plinking out on the mesa of Northern New Mexico. It took me an hour to take 7 long guns from their safes, put them into their proper cases, gather enough ammo and magazines to enjoy two hours of shooting, and carry them out to my F-150. How in the Hell did a 64 year old novice carry 20+ rifles (200+lb.) and 4000 rounds of ammunition (400-500+lb.) Magazines and cases up 32 floors in a busy hotel?. Oh, I suppose he disassembled 20+ rifles and secretly hid them in his luggage and reassembled them while enjoying the Las Vegas night life and hours of gambling.

Matt Bracken said...

Doug Poppa, ex-cop and Las Vegas casino security expert, will be on Hagmann Report tonight to talk about the LV massacre. Poppa has broken a lot of news on the event, and I recommend catching the show if you can.

Sabre22 said...

I am glad that Idiot did use a Full Auto MG like a MG-42 or any 7.62-7.92 weapon. The casualties would have been a lot higher with an NFA MG. So for planning why not at least try to get one he had the money and clean record. There are places to rent them in Vegas so the could have known they were legal in Nevada. While at the rental place he could have inquired about buying one? Maybe he did and di not want to go through the hassle????

Anonymous said...

'They' are not legal in Nevada. Or we'd all own one. Or three.
- Grandpa

Exring said...

I quickly skimmed this set of comments and agree that this Paddock "fall-guy" was not, likely, the shooter (or only shooter). I have not heard whether all the spent bullets swept up on the crime scene were carefully examined to see if they came from the weapons found in the hotel. I know that the energy remaining in the ammunition shot at 400 plus yards (my understanding of the distance fired), is no longer accurate if shooting a 55gr bullet (the ones most readily available since B.O. was placed in office). There may be a question answered as to how many firearms were fired delivering all those rounds and establish whether the accused, dead, perpetrater was really the only shooter. How many cartridge cases were found in the "only room(s)" from which all the shots were supposed to be fired? This is only the beginning of the "unanswered" questions. Will they be giving the "care and upkeep" of the vital information to the same "credible" part of the Federal Government for safe keeping as they did for the Assassination of JFK? Just wondering. Are there any real "Protectors of the Public" in the LVPD (or any other Law Enforcement Agency)? We have been duped by a "legal system, not a Justice System" and this will not bode well.