On Thursday, The New York Times released videos obtained exclusively from MGM Resorts that show that the Las Vegas shooter’s week before the October 1, 2017 massacre seemed ordinary enough but masked his meticulous planning before the attack. This is what they show:
The videos begin on Monday, September 25. At the VIP counter of the Mandalay Bay hotel, the shooter checked into a suite on the 32nd floor, room 135, and booked an adjoining room, room 134, which he did not check into until September 29. First, the shooter spent two hours in his room and eating at a sushi restaurant downstairs. Just before 5 p.m., the shooter drove his minivan to the valet where a bellman loaded a luggage cart with five suitcases. The shooter asked to accompany the bellman as they took a route through the service elevators to the room. Hotel managers have said that procedure is not unusual.
The shooter spent the next four hours in his room. He later took two suitcases and drove one hour to his home in Mesquite. According to cell phone records, the shooter stayed at his home until Tuesday night when he returned to Las Vegas, stopping at The Ogden, a downtown condominium complex where he had checked in the previous Friday as a music festival called “Life Is Beautiful” was being held in the neighborhood. Police later recovered internet records showing the shooter had perused the internet to determine the festival’s lineup and expected attendance.
Later Tuesday night, the shooter returned to the Mandalay Bay where he used a bellman, similar to the first time, to transport seven more suitcases to his suite. The shooter than gambled for eight hours; video shows his interactions with casino hosts consisted of normal conversation.
Now having 12 suitcases in his room, the shooter spent most of Wednesday in his room. Wednesday night, the shooter took two suitcases, headed for The Ogden, stopped there, and then drove home to Mesquite.
On Thursday, the shooter bought a bolt-action rifle at a gun store and visited a nearby gun range before returning to the Mandalay. For the third time, he used a bellman, this time transporting a white container and three suitcases to his room. Again, he gambled through the night. Friday, the shooter stayed in his room until around 3 p.m., using his laptop as the suite was cleaned. He checked into the adjoining room in the name of his girlfriend. He told the cleaning staff to leave behind the service cart, which he would use two days later, along with another service cart, to surveil the halls outside his rooms.
Friday night at 8 p.m., the Route 91 Harvest Festival started at the Fairgrounds across from the Mandalay Bay. That night, the shooter returned to his home in Mesquite, doubling back to the Mandalay and arriving at 6 a.m. on Saturday with two more suitcases. Just after noon on Saturday, he placed “Do Not Disturb” signs on the doors of his rooms. He declined housekeeping and returned to the valet area where he retrieved two more pieces of luggage from his car. Saturday afternoon he gambled again, then returned Saturday night to his home in Mesquite for the last time.
Sunday morning at 3 a.m. he arrived at the Mandalay and gambled until 7:37 a.m., at which point he returned to his room. At 12:16 p.m. the shooter headed to the parking garage and returned to his room with two suitcases and a smaller bag. Since Monday, the shooter had brought at least 21 cases, two smaller cases, a laptop bag, and a container to his room. He had accumulated 23 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. That is the last time the shooter is seen on video.
According to the Times, the shooter repeatedly opened, closed and locked the doors to his rooms throughout the day on Sunday. At 9:36 p.m., he locked the deadbolt to room 135 for the last time. At 9:40, Jason Aldean started his performance at the music festival. The shooter then turned the deadbolt to room 134.
At 10:35, the massacre began.
In under 10 minutes, 58 people were killed and 700 people were wounded in the worst mass shooting in modern American history.