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MGM Resorts questions police account of Vegas shooting

MGM Resorts issued a statement last night saying that police briefings regarding the investigation of the October 1 Mandalay Bay shooting “may not be accurate.”

The tragedy, in which gunman Stephen Paddock killed 58 festival-goers in Las Vegas before turning the gun on himself, “remains an ongoing investigation with a lot of moving parts,” according to MGM Resorts spokeswoman Debra DeShong. “As evidenced by law enforcement briefings over the past week, many facts are still unverified and continue to change as events are under review. We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline that has been communicated publically, and we believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate.

“We understand the public’s desire for information and the importance of getting our community and the public at large the information they deserve, and we are doing everything we can to support law enforcement’s efforts to do so,” the statement continued. “Therefore, it is not appropriate for us to comment further at this time on what remains an open matter for law enforcement.”

The statement comes amid news from an Arizona ABC-TV affiliate that college student Paige Gasper, one of hundreds wounded at the country music festival by Paddock, is suing MGM Resorts and several other parties, claiming that the company failed to property monitor people entering and leaving the hotel and didn’t respond quickly enough after the first shots were fired, among other allegations. The lawsuit was filed in Clark County District Court.

At a news conference on Monday, according to the Huffington Post, county sheriff’s police said Paddock first shot at a Mandalay Bay security guard six minutes before opening fire on a country music festival, and had checked into the hotel three days earlier than previously reported. According to the Los Angeles Times, police now believe the security guard, who was wounded by Paddock, had been the first to alert hotel security officials of a gunman.

MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren appeared in public on Tuesday for the first time since the massacre, to speak to attendees of IMEX America, a meeting and convention industry event. He asked convention organizers to stick with Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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