Las Vegas police now say there was no six-minute gap between first shots and concert massacre

By Mark Berman October 13 at 3:27 PM

Las Vegas police said Friday that the gunman who opened fire on a country music festival far below his hotel suite did not shoot a security guard six minutes before that rampage, contradicting a timeline they had offered earlier this week.

The change marked the latest shift in the official narrative of what happened before and during the massacre on Oct. 1. Authorities said the gunman, Stephen Paddock, fired from his high-rise suite in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more before killing himself.

Joseph Lombardo, the Las Vegas sheriff, also said Friday that the number of injuries related to the massacre had increased, rising to 546. Of that number, he said, 45 were still hospitalized, some in critical condition.

Investigators remain unable to determine a motivation for the rampage and why Paddock, a 64-year-old avid gambler, smuggled 23 guns and other equipment into his room before opening fire. The FBI said Friday they had “made significant progress,” tracking thousands of leads and conducting hundreds of interviews.

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