A Las Vegas police officer accidentally fired his gun inside gunman Stephen Paddock's suite on the night of the mass shooting earlier this month, the Clark County sheriff confirmed Monday.
The information comes after more than two weeks of silence surrounding the massacre that left 58 dead and nearly 500 injured during a country music festival on Oct. 1 across from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
The gun went off after officers entered the suite occupied by the shooter, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, but no rounds were fired in the room where police found Paddock dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“It happened and we’re investigating it, just like we do with any officer-involved use of force,” Sheriff Joe Lombardo told the Review-Journal. “Nobody was struck.”
It's unclear what caused the unnamed officer to fire his weapon, Fox News reported.
Not much, but according to the Fox News report, the sheriff confirmed there were no security cameras facing Paddock's room or the stairwell door that security guard Jesus Campos told Ellen DeGeneres was jammed shut. The only security cameras on the 32nd floor, where the gunman's corner suite was located, faced the elevators.
FBI Las Vegas spokeswoman Sandra Breault has repeatedly declined to speak about the investigation, the Review-Journal reported.
The gunman's motive remains a mystery.
