Lombardo: Paddock’s motive unknown and may remain so

LAS VEGAS — Speaking on June 5 at a luncheon held at a local golf club Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said they have “not determined the motive” and probably never will figure out why Stephen Paddock decided to fire upon the concert-goers and kill 58 people and injuring hundreds more.

Lombardo also said that the final LVMPD investigative report will most likely be released by the end of July, followed shortly thereafter by the FBI’s behavioral analysis report.

Rather than holding a public press conference out of respect for the families of those killed and the survivors of the Las Vegas Massacre, Lombardo thought that it was appropriate to make the announcement while addressing the Nevada Republican Men’s Club.  The price to attend the luncheon; $35 for members, $40 for non-members.

One thing Lombardo hasn’t spoken on is why one of his police officers, LVMPD Officer Cordell Hendrex, failed to confront Paddock on the night of October 1.

Hendrex by his own account was with an armed contingent of Mandalay Bay security personnel and another police officer on the 31^st floor for several minutes while they listened to Paddock’s gunfire as he was slaughtering people across the street at the concert and took no action to intervene.

MGM Resorts International, the owners of the Mandalay Bay Hotel have also remained silent, even though a statement was given by one of their security managers to the FBI and the police strongly contradicts Hendrex’s account.

The Las Vegas media apparently has joined ranks with Sheriff Lombardo and MGMRI.

The Las Vegas Review Journal, The Las Vegas Sun, Nevada Public Radio, KSNV-TV NBC News 3, KLAS-TV CBS 8 News Now, KTNV-TV ABC 13 Action News and KVVU Fox 5 News, have all ignored the story on Hendrex.

Why?

The worst mass shooting in modern American history occurred in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017 and left 58 people dead and hundreds of others wounded by gunfire.  22,000 Route 91 Music Festival attendees had their lives changed forever on that tragic night.

Attorneys representing the LVMPD fought for months in the courts to halt the release of documents and other evidence relating to the criminal investigation until the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the police had to start producing the documents to the media.

In a May 29 court hearing the LVMPD’s attorney, Nick Crosby told the court that the police may not have any record that lists all the officers who responded to the October 1 massacre.

“I don’t know if a record exists of every officer who responded to the scene,”Crosby told the court.

If that sounds unrealistic it gets even worse.

Crosby also said that the LVMPD does not even have a list of all persons who filled out witness statements and they may not have a list of all the surveillance cameras that are located on the Las Vegas Strip.

Can you believe that?

Lombardo said at a press conference last year that he is offended by the word ‘incompetence.’  He should probably re-evaluate his comment.

During the May 29 court hearing the attorneys representing the media outlets that fought to have the October 1 records released, asked for an inventory of all the records available that relate to the court-ordered release.

The media would then select what records they deem are most important, by narrowing those down.

Clark County District Court Judge Stefany Miley said that by not having an inventory of all the records then there would be a bunch of expenses that would needlessly be incurred ultimately by the taxpayers.

The court ordered the LVMPD to produce a list of all 911 calls, a list of all the police officers who regularly wear body cameras and a list all the surveillance cameras on the Las Vegas Strip that were recording the night of the Massacre and their locations.

We will see what Lombardo comes up with.

Never forget the 58 victims of the Las Vegas Massacre, who died on October 1, 2017, because of gunfire reigning down on the concert venue for ten minutes.

Doug Poppa

Doug authored over 135 articles on the October 1, 2017, Las Vegas Massacre, more than any other single journalist in the country. He investigates stories on corruption, law enforcement, and crime. Doug is a US Army Military Police Veteran, former police officer, deputy sheriff, and criminal investigator. Doug spent 20 years in the hotel/casino industry as an investigator and then as Director of Security and Surveillance. He also spent a short time with the US Dept. of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration. In 1986 Doug was awarded Criminal Investigator of the Year by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia for his undercover work in narcotics enforcement. In 1991 and 1992 Doug testified in court that a sheriff’s office official and the county prosecutor withheld exculpatory evidence during the 1988 trial of a man accused of the attempted murder of his wife. Doug’s testimony led to a judge’s decision to order the release of the man from prison in 1992 and awarded him a new trial, in which he was later acquitted. As a result of Doug breaking the police “blue wall of silence,” he was fired by the county sheriff. His story was featured on Inside Edition, Current Affair and CBS News’ “Street Stories with Ed Bradley”. In 1992 after losing his job, at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Doug infiltrated a group of men who were plotting the kidnapping of a Dupont fortune heir and his wife. Doug has been a guest on national television and radio programs speaking on the stories he now writes as an investigative journalist. Catch Doug’s Podcast: @dougpoppa1