Yes, it matters for RKBA.

The LVMPD’s Preliminary Investigative Report (PDF) on the Mandalay Bay mass shooting has been released. If they expected this to silence doubters of the ever changing narrative, they screwed up. Do read it; it’s 81 pages, but that includes photographs and victim lists.

I noticed little things. Early leaks said there were AR- and AK pattern rifles. According to this report there were only AR-15 and and AR-10 pattern rifles, one revolver, and a Ruger bolt-action in .308.

Early leaks said the asshole was in financial trouble. This reports says not only were all his debts paid, but he’d paid the resort bill.

One point of agreement between early leaks and this report is that the asshole wired at least $100,000 to the Philippines.

But something missing from this report is hinted at here.

Paddock was on the floor south of the chair and side table. He was wearing black pants, a long sleeve brown shirt, black gloves, and grey shoes. Paddock was on his back with his head to the south, feet to the north, and arms at his sides. There was apparent blood surrounding his nose and mouth, and on the floor under his head. There was also apparent blood on the front of his shirt. A rifle was on the floor under his legs. A grey box cutter was on the floor between his feet. There were casings on the floor surrounding him. A silver/black colored “Smith & Wesson”
revolver with apparent blood on it was on the floor south of Paddock’s head.

Please refer to this previously leaked crime scene photo (mildly graphic shot of the body). Unmentioned in the report is the rifle under which the asshole somehow managed to extend his foot without overturning it.

Also unmentioned is something to be found in this leaked photo (very graphic; head shot): expended brass on top of the blood.

The geometry is odd, too. The asshole shot himself in the mouth and fell over. The revolver (the suicide weapon per the report) is two feet “above” his head, and his arms are along his side, foot under a bipod-mounted rifle. Shades of Vince Foster (has anyone checked Hillary’s alibi?).

And now we get to something else I find odd. The room service ticket for October 1st included two entrees. The asshole’s body in 32-135 was found wearing gloves. Another pair of gloves was found at the shooting position in 32-134 (he changed gloves mid-shoot?), which happens to be where the scoped bolt-action rifle was found.

Now, looking at the weapons list, you’ll note that many rifles had no sights/optics. At least one only had a front sight. Clearly precision shooting wasn’t expected…

…except we have a note of precision ballistics calculations. And a spotting scope.

Two entrees, two shooting positions, two pairs of gloves, a precision rifle and a spotting scope. Computers connected to different cameras in both rooms. Video recording with the sound of two different weapons fired simultaneously. Brass on top of blood from suicide.

One shooter.

Oh, and the laptop whose hard drive walked away. You’d think if the asshole was concerned about incriminating computer files, he’d have disappeared the one with the reported kiddie porn, too.

Draw your own conclusions. (I have my own, but in deference to The Zelman Partisans I’ll stay out of that here.)

Back to why this still matters. At the state and local levels, we’re seeing legislation to further restrict rights based on this incident. Bump-fire stocks, most notably. Peruse that report and you’ll see multiple reports from civilians and police officers of automatic weapons fire. While there were leaks that at least two firearms were fully automatic (in addition to the bump-fire stocked rifles), that isn’t addressed in this report at all. Seems odd.

Perhaps they’re after the person who sold (or converted) automatic weapons to the asshole and don’t want to tip him off that they know auto weapons were involved. Except that was released back in October. If I were that black marketeer, I’d have started covering my butt back then.

If no weapons were full-auto, why not correct the initial report, leaving the path open for regulating bump-fire stocks? If all the weapons were legal, and they no longer consider the girlfriend a suspect, why not set the record straight? And who could they be considering for charges if no one else did anything unlawful?

If this report was expected to allay concerns, they missed… their own target.

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Carl is an unpaid TZP volunteer. If you found this post useful, please consider dropping something in his tip jar.

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