Vegas 1 Year Later: In Reflection

This past Monday, October 1st, was the one-year anniversary of the Las Vegas Shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.

This attack on the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival killed 58 and injured over 500 concert-goers.  From the beginning, the shooting departed from more common methods we’ve seen used in prior attacks.  While most assailants are within the same space as the people they are targeting, the shooter in this instance was shooting from the 32nd floor of a hotel, slightly over a quarter mile away.  In addition, the assailant supplied himself with an arsenal of 23 rifles, 14 of which were outfitted with bump stock devices.  In the year since details have been few and far between.  This article will review lessons learned, the details that have been made available, and what impact the shooting has had on the country.  

Recently, Las Vegas Law Enforcement released video footage of police response during the attack.  While initially touted as a strong response, this footage and other details have painted a different picture, ultimately raising more questions than answers.  We learned that a hotel security guard was shot before the shooter began firing on the concert, not after, as was initially reported, and that although that guard immediately notified in-house security of the situation, police did not reach him in the hallway for 19 minutes – 3 minutes after the concert attack ended.  It took an unthinkable 81 minutes for SWAT to finally enter the room where the assailant was staged, only to find him already dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Time and time again, we learn that we are going to be on our own for more time than we want to be.   We cannot count on Law Enforcement to save us in these Active Assailant events.   We are the true first responders and we must be prepared to act accordingly.   

The hospitality industry, as well as other large venues, have now been put on notice that these attacks can happen within their walls.  Many sporting and concert venues already utilize metal detectors and a heavy police presence to secure the event.  Hotels have clearly not made that change in the last year, but the industry is in deep debate on how to handle these evolving security risks.  Their struggle is in how to maintain their outward appearance of being warm and welcoming, while not being so blindly trusting of all the people who elect to stay on their property.  It is a fine line to walk and a problem that has not yet been solved.  Additionally, in Las Vegas hotels and casinos, the existing protocol to handle a shooting at the time of the attack was to barricade the corridor and wait for police. I have not seen anything stating that this policy has been changed since the shooting, but it is one that they will need to seriously consider updating to allow for a more prompt response.