Baltimore Post Examiner – by Doug Poppa, October 8, 2017
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department borrowed armored vehicles from a Las Vegas based company, Battlefield Las Vegas, during last Sunday’s massacre of innocent concert-goers.
According to LVMPD radio traffic that night the police dispatcher stated, “Units be advised there is going to be three armored cars enroute to South Central Area Command followed by a silver Dodge Ram, okay per SWAT.” Minutes later; “3Ocean55, we have three armored cars that are at Russell and Las Vegas Boulevard, they’re not affiliated with law enforcement but the sergeant called them from Battlefield Las Vegas and they’re waiting for orders.” [Police dispatcher] They’re going to be going to South Central Area Command we’ve been advised.” “3Ocean55 copy.”
When the Baltimore Post-Examiner contacted Battlefield Las Vegas today an employee named Trevor after having been asked what type of armored vehicles were provided to the police the night of the shooting, stated that they were not commenting on it. He said the only vehicles they have were the ones you can see on their website.
Battlefield Las Vegas provides customers with the opportunity to fire fully automatic weapons including an M-134 mini-gun that they advertise as “This is the only mini-gun that’s running and available to the public in Las Vegas.” The company owns a fleet of surplus military vehicles.
It is not known at this time if any of those vehicles were deployed. The LVMPD was unavailable for comment.
The initial police response that night was nothing short of amazing as evident by the police radio traffic. The first shots rang out at about 10:08pm and continued for ten-minutes.
“179SamEasy, we got shots fired at the Route 91 sounded like automatic firearm. It’s coming from upstairs in the Mandalay Bay, upstairs Mandalay Bay halfway up, I see the shots coming from Mandalay Bay halfway up.” “We have an active shooter, we have an active shooter inside the fairgrounds.” “That’s correct, shots fired from Mandalay Bay.” “790 arrived I’m going to form a strike team, Mandalay Bay and the Boulevard, I need five officers on me.” “Control be advised shots are coming from Gate 7, Gate 7 shots are coming from Gate 7.” [Inside concert venue]. “159SE we have a rifle deployed, we are in front of Mandalay Bay. We are trying to see where the shots are coming from.” “We’re seeing multiple flashes in the middle of the Mandalay Bay on the north side, kind of on the west tower towards the center of the casino, one of the middle floors.”
“Control 3Mary, we have an officer shot Mandalay Bay northbound right outside Route 91 at the south edge [automatic weapon fire heard in the background.”] Control 3Mary14, I’m inside the Mandalay Bay on the 31st floor, I can hear the automatic weapon fire coming from one floor ahead, one floor above us. “Copy.” “CP [command post] be advised its automatic fire from an elevated position, take cover.” That is correct it’s fully automatic fire I’m one floor below it.”
“We’re taking gunfire, it’s going right over our heads, there’s debris coming over our heads so we’re pinned down here with civilians.” “Control see if we can contact Mandalay Bay, see if they can shut down their elevators so he can’t get mobile we can take the stairs.” “We are going to make entry into the [unintelligible] to make contact with the subject, see if we can get up to him. We’re doing that right now, 32nd floor. We’re making our way to give you support. Okay, is he still firing?”
“Control 3Mary35, we’re getting from civilians that there may have been three shooters.” “Control 3Mary14 I am in the stairwell of the 32nd floor.” “Control 169SE, I need the radio please, I am on the 32nd floor the room is going to be 135.” “Just confirming it is the Mandalay Bay, the 32nd floor, room 135. “That is affirm.” “We have a four-man element at the very end of the hall.”
“Control we just spoke to Security at Mandalay Bay. They’re saying they have shots fired on 29 and 32nd levels.” “Control 182SE, we have a security officer also shot in the leg on the 32nd floor. He’s standing right by the elevator.” “He shot down the hallway and hit a security officer. It’s room 135 on the 32nd floor.” “We have a four-man team up here and we have another element coming to us. So, we’re going to have about eight on the 32nd floor.” “We will need the 29th floor. It sounds like it’s confirmed there are at least two shooters with fully automatic weapons.” Control Zebra15 [SWAT officer], get somebody into the camera room [Mandalay Bay Hotel Surveillance] and see if we can get cameras watching the 29 and 32nd floors.
“Control 167SamEasy, please advise all units to have their vehicles locked people are going in and trying to grab shotguns.” Control Air5 [LVMPD helicopter], we’re getting multiple reports from McCarron Tower [International Airport] now that there are multiple people running across the active runways.”
“590 I’m clearing the 29th floor.” “77Victor, I’m on the 29th floor of the Mandalay Bay with an element. 29th floor Mandalay Bay I have a four-man element.” “Control Air5, we have been able to clear all the lower roofs, there are employees on the upper roof there’s like a break room up there. The lower roofs on the east side have all been cleared.” Control 590, we started clearing just on the 29th floor and up. So, the floors below need to be cleared out. We just moved up here based on the intel.”
“167SamEasy I had a civilian take a patrol car!” “I need to know if we have that floor evacuated other than our suspects?” ‘We have snipers going up soon so I need to know if it’s been evac’d.” “Floor 32. It’s clear all the way up to [room] 120.” “We’re going to come up the stairwell.” I’ll let you know before we come through the door so we don’t have a blue on blue [firing on one another]. “Okay I copy that. We have a team up here so we’re ready.”
Confirming the Mandalay Bay and Ali Baba and Giles [concert area] are the two shooting locations, do we have a third? “We have the hallway contained. The room where the shots were fired from, it is contained right now.” “I have multiple rifles and plenty of officers.” “Hold the stairwell and we’ll wait for the Zebra team [SWAT] for the plan.”
About an hour after the first shots rang out the SWAT Team conducts an explosive breach on the gunman’s door and then a second explosive breach another interior room door. Zebra20 [SWAT officer] then notifies the dispatcher that the suspect in down. One officer discharged his weapon.
There was a lot more going on that night in Las Vegas that the police had to deal with. They were responding to multiple calls of other active shooters at other properties. That will be the subject of another story at the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
Cops are civilians too. Wish they’d get that right.
According to LVMPD radio traffic that night the police dispatcher stated, “Units be advised there is going to be three armored cars enroute to South Central Area Command followed by a silver Dodge Ram, okay per SWAT.”
heard that on a 20 min cop scanner bit I listened to on 10/02
Armored Cars? Photos with article focus on Humvee’s, so would a dispatcher say “Armored Humvee” on radio? I’m gonna have to quit commenting about this to my friends because every time I think I have the story nailed down, so as to debate with the latest factoids with some sort of logic train, I go online a day later and major sh*t has changed with the story. I think someone got that brain-wipe pen from the “Men In Black” movie, because how else can this much varied, yet video-documented and supported points of view be posted, and which everyone seems to make a strong argument for itself. I have no idea how long it takes for those vehicles to drive from where they are lagered to where the shooting scene was, but were those vehicle drivers just sitting around work at ‘Battlefield Las Vegas’ drinking Pepsi and playing Monopoly on a sunday night around the time most adults decide its time to get dressed up and go out? 3 drivers for three vehicles and all coordinated with some police agency. and a vehicle like that, even a humvee, you are probably going to need someone in the commanders/gunners hatch if not the passenger seat to make sure that automobile-armor crunchy things don’t happen-so that would be 6 people sitting around playing monopoly on the weekend shift on a sunday night who just happened to be there (drinking Pepsi-pretty sure there is no BAC for driving military vehicles on any street in the world outside Grozny in the 90’s or 1945 Berlin). And those things aren’t Toyota Camry’s. Nothing happens that quickly by chance. I’m not saying this didn’t happen. However, my personal military service says that things only go smoothly after they have been planned and rehearsed and that includes routine movements such as getting vehicles-as-cargo from cargo yard to flightline for MilAir airlift. So does Battlefield Las Vegas have a some sort of Memorandum or agreement with local LE to provide armor vehicle support just in case of an emergency? Because if these guys just showed up to help out a friend in the Vegas PD and they had run over a family of four visiting from Japan, things would get extremely out-of-their-hands and good intentions would count for jack squat. This may well have played out as the article states, but with all the other reports, well, truth is stranger than fiction and this (also) seems very strange indeed.