Private Security Guard stopped the Las Vegas Mass Killing

It was a heroic private security guard who stopped the mass killing coming from the Mandalay Bay Hotel. In the timeline published yesterday, it was not clear if the security guard was accompanying the police, or ahead of them. Now we know. Undersheriff Kevin McMahill gave a briefing yesterday, 3 October, at 6 p.m.

In the briefing, Undersheriff McMahill details when the shooting ended. No more shots were fired at people outside the hotel after 10:19 p.m.

Link to video on Youtube

The information about the ending of the shooting is given between 3:17 and 5:30 on the video.  McMahill releases these facts in remarkable agreement with what I concluded in yesterday's article.

The mass killer started firing about 10:08. He fired for 9-11 minutes and a dozen or so volleys. He stopped firing at 10:19.

Four officers were working the Mandalay Bay at another event. They formed a team and were approaching the room on the 32nd floor. A heroic security guard was ahead of the police. Three cameras had been placed by the mass killer. Two were in the hallway, one in the room looking out the peephole. The guard was advancing toward the room when he was shot. The shooting stopped, just after the security guard was shot.

The mass killer shot him through the door. Although wounded, he was able to give details to the police, completing the identification of the room.

We do not know for certain if the security guard was armed. Some are, some are not. It seems likely that this guard was, but we do not know as yet. It appears the mass killer killed himself at this time. There are no further reports of gunshots until the SWAT Team blew down the door.

Warning: Graphic image

Revolver appears to be a S&W 342 Airlite SC or a 340SC with 1 7/8 inch barrel

The police were not far behind the private first responder.  Given the radio traffic, the mass killer stopped shooting about 10:19. The four policemen report that they have a person with gunshot wounds at 10:21. From newsweek.com:

10:19 p.m.: A team of four officers makes their way into the hotel up to the 32nd floor. It's unclear if the shooting is still going on.

10:21 p.m.: An out-of-breath officer yells over the radio: "Gunshot wounds to the chest and head. We need immediate medical!"

The maximum time between when the private security guard was shot and when the police arrived was two minutes. It may have been much less.

If it were only one minute, that is about 10% of the time the mass killer was engaged in killing people. I believe the security guard saved lives with his prompt response.

The four officers who formed a team and responded immediately are also heroes.

They took the initiative and literally ran to the sound of the guns. Police are reactionary by nature. The private security guard was on his home turf. He was the one who arrived first, and stopped the slaughter. We often see this in mass killings. When confronted by an armed first responder, private or a public servant, the mass killings usually stop. A majority of the time the killer commits suicide, as happened in this case. 

This article records 28 mass killings stopped by armed private citizens in the United States. Most did not make the FBI mass killing list, because the armed individual stopped the slaughter before it reached the minimum of four deaths of innocents required by the FBI definition.

Police are the backup for armed private citizens. Armed citizens are often on the scene before police arrive. Police officers provide the force that keeps society together. A private armed citizen usually knows the police are on the way. He or she only has to deal with the situation long enough for the police to arrive.

A back-up force is absolutely necessary to this equation.  It is possible the hero security guard would have died without police assistance. Without a sanctioned backup force, society devolves into tribal warfare. In colonial America, the back up force was the militia. Armed neighbors are still helpful. But most of our backup forces are police and sheriff departments.


©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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