Jeff German at the Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting, officials at McCarran International Airport confirmed that Las Vegas concert mass murderer Stephen Paddock used his Mandalay Bay hotel room to fire bullets directly at nearby jet fuel tanks.
In a statement released to the newspaper, spokesman Chris Jones said airport officials were informed by local and federal law enforcement that one of the tanks was “struck by rifle fire during the tragic shooting event that occurred in Las Vegas the evening of Oct. 1.”
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That was the night Paddock went on a shooting rampage from his room, killing 58 people and wounding almost 500 at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival. Police found him dead in his room.
In the wake of the Review-Journal report, County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said she will seek a review of the security risks posed by the tanks, which are located 1,100 feet from the concert site. source
“This is something I will raise as an issue for us to take a look at now that we know it’s a potential safety hazard,” said Giunchigliani, the commission’s vice chair.
Jones said airport management learned that two rifle rounds struck a single 43,000-barrel fuel tank just east of the Mandalay Bay.
“One round penetrated Tank 202, which was partially filled with jet fuel,” the airport statement said. “A second round was found lodged within the same tank’s outer steel shell, and did not penetrate. This tank was subsequently evaluated by experts who found no evidence of smoke nor fire.”
Jones said the tank is being drained and will be reinspected and repaired.
Several airplane hangars belonging to prominent corporations are near the tanks, which sit on property owned by the airport. The tanks are operated by Swissport Fueling, the company that runs the jet fuel operations for the airport.
The Review-Journal reported Wednesday that FBI agents had inspected the tanks and took measurements of the line of fire from Mandalay Bay. A team of forensics experts were brought to Las Vegas from FBI headquarters in Washington D.C.
Paddock, a 64-year-old Mesquite resident, had broken two windows in his 32nd-floor suite — one in line with the concert site and the other with a direct view of the fuel tanks, a knowledgeable source told the newspaper.
“Airport fueling has not been compromised,” Jones said late Wednesday. “It’s functional.”
Swissport officials have not responded to Review-Journal inquiries. And the FBI has declined to comment