"Shots Fired" - MGM Releases Audio Of Security Guard Reporting Las Vegas Shooting

Nearly a month after the worst mass shooting in US history, many questions remain unanswered.

After an exhaustive investigation, the FBI and Las Vegas Police Department have confirmed that Paddock meticulously planned the assault, and even booked hotel rooms overlooking music festivals in other cities – suggesting that he had planned previous attacks, but backed out for whatever reason. However, his motive is seemingly lost to the wind.

But perhaps even more troubling than the absence of a motive (from a legal perspective, at least) is the fact that, four weeks later, the timeline of events remains murky. Specifically, two things are still unclear: The first is whether security guard Jesus Campos, who first alerted the hotel to the attack, was shot before, during or after the assault began. The second is how long it took the hotel’s dispatcher to inform the police.

This information is, of course, crucial because victims of the attack have already begun filing lawsuits against MGM Resorts, the owner of Mandalay Bay, for negligence related to the attack.

So far, the company appears to be doing everything it can to suppress any new information from leaking to the press. The mystery surrounding Campos’s activities following the attack has only further alarmed victims. Following Stephen Paddock"s Oct. 1st massacre, Campos flaked on a press conference that he reportedly scheduled then went missing for days before suddenly resurfacing on the "Ellen" show - a decision that was made for him by MGM management, who apparently believed Ellen wouldn"t ask too many probing questions.

On Saturday, audio of Campos’s dispatch call reporting “shots fired” has been released. But curiously, the audio was not released with a time stamp, making it impossible for the public to discern when, exactly, the call was placed.

During the 24-second audio released Friday, Campos can be heard reporting “shots fired” at Mandalay Bay from the 32nd floor.

“Hey, there are shots fired in 32-135,” Campos says, according to the audio, which was released by MGM.

According to the most recent official version of events (which has of course been revised several times) Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo has said Campos first reported that he had come across a blocked off doorway on the 32nd floor at 9:59 pm. The official timeline shows him being shot six minutes later, just before Paddock began firing on the crowd of 20,000 country music fans across the street. The shooting ended around 10:15, and the first police to arrive on the floor encountered Campos minutes later before forcing their way into Paddock’s room.

Last week, the New York Times postulated an alternative timeline that places the shooting of Campos about a minute after the shooting began. While it’s been reported that Paddock fired 200 rounds into the hallway, the gunshots in the record sound distant enough to suggest that he may have been firing on the crowd during the Campos call.  

Of course, the audio clip was not released with a timestamp, and no explanation from MGM was given as to why the clip is just being released now.

But as lawsuits move forward, perhaps more details about what exactly happened that night will emerge.

Brother Of Las Vegas Gunman Arrested On Child Pornography Charges

The story of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock"s family just keeps getting weirder.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting one of Paddock"s younger brothers, Bruce Paddock, has been detained in North Hollywood on suspicion of crimes related to child pornography. Paddock, 58, was taken into custody Wednesday morning.

The LAPD said a man was detained in the 5300 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard on suspicion of crimes related to child pornography. However the LAPD would not reveal the name of the man. Sandra Breault, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Las Vegas, declined to say whether Bruce Paddock’s detention was connected to the agency"s investigation into the concert shooting.

Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock

The Paddocks" father, Benjamin Paddock, was famously revealed to be a former bank robber and con man who once made the FBI"s "most wanted" list. Paddock"s family has mostly avoided the media, though his youngest brother, Eric, spoke out when reporters descended on his Florida home in the days following the shooting. Eric Paddock said he wasn"t close with most of his brothers, but had once been involved in a lucrative real estate venture with Stephen. He said he was shocked to learn that his brother had been the shooter, and said his brother gave no indication that he might carry out such an atrocious act.

The 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on a Las Vegas crowd of 20,000 people attending a country music festival on Oct. 1. Paddock killed 60 people, including himself, in the meticulously planned attack for which investigators have so far failed to identify a motive. The quest to find why Stephen Paddock, a wealthy real estate investor and professional gambler, did what he did has so far yielded no results.

Meanwhile, police have repeatedly changed their timeline for the shooting, and MGM Resorts, the owner of the Mandalay Bay hotel, has taken efforts to stop more information about the timeline of events from leaking to the public, for fear it could face lawsuits from Paddock"s victims.

Mandalay Bay, MGM Resorts Ordered To Preserve Evidence In Vegas Massacre

Just hours after rumors that MGM Resorts had pressured Jesus Campos to appear on a "soft" talkshow, rather than a hard-hitting news show, local Laws Vegas NBC affiliate News3LV reports that Mandalay Bay and its corporate owner MGM Resorts have been ordered to preserve evidence relate to the October 1st massacre.

As we previously noted, sources told DailyMail.com, MGM is worried that families of the 58 people murdered as well as many of the 546 injured  in the Mandalay Bay massacre will launch lawsuits potentially worth billions of dollars against the company, and they thought Campos might not keep his story straight under the pressure of the TV lights and tough questioning.

That is why Campos, 25, appeared on a daytime chat show hosted by a fast-talking, dancing comedienne, rather than take questions from TV hardhitters such as Fox News’ Sean Hannity, NBC News or ABC News.

 

‘MGM was behind the decision to call off all the interviews and did a deal with Ellen, knowing she would not play hardball on the timeline as long as she had the exclusive,’ a TV insider told DailyMail.com.

But now, as News3LV.com reports, Mandalay Bay and its corporate owner MGM Resorts have been ordered not to destroy anything that could be considered evidence in a civil negligence trial over events related to the Route 91 music festival. The order was sought by attorneys who represent Rachel Sheppard, a California woman who survived the attack, despite being shot in the chest three times.

“The shooter was in that hotel for six days,” says attorney Brian Nettles.

 

The order, granted by Judge Mark Denton, restrains Mandalay Bay from destroying anything of evidentiary value until another hearing set for Oct. 30 at 9 a.m.

 

That’s when MGM will have a chance to argue against the ruling, before a possible ruling to would make the order permanent.

 

“There’s evidence that’s coming out about surveillance cameras that he may have set up himself, evidence about ways that he may have altered his room or that hallway,” he says.

 

The lawsuit alleges that negligence on the part of Mandalay Bay, and MGM Resorts, contributed to the shooting massacre that claimed 58 lives and injured more than 500 people.

Perhaps now - in discovery - we may actually get to the bottom of the "real" timeline...

Missing Vegas Massacre Security Guard Resurfaces...

The mystery is over. After vanishing since last Thursday, wounded Las Vegas security guard Jesus Campos has been found... On the set of "Ellen".

As we noted previously, the general story of Campos" disappearance appears to have been confirmed by ABC journalist Stephanie Wash, who tweeted Thursday evening:

“Media scrum tonight as we learn security officer shot in Vegas attack, Jesus Campos’ whereabouts are unknown.”

“Jesus Campos was set to do 5 intvs tonight per union president, but they’ve lost contact. ‘We were in a room & we came out & he was gone,’” she also tweeted.

Then, David Hickey of the Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) told reporters Friday that he got a text the night before saying Jesus Campos was taken to a UMC Quick Care facility, though he did not specify where or whom the text came from.

A spokesperson at the UMC Quick Care, which has eight locations throughout the Las Vegas area, told Fox News on Monday that they had "heard nothing" about Campos visiting them.

And now, as Ellen herself tweeted this morning, we know where he is...

Tomorrow, the first people to encounter the Las Vegas shooter are here – security guard Jesus Campos and building engineer Stephen Schuck. pic.twitter.com/dDmjzN6xBx

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) October 18, 2017

As The LA Times reports, Ellen DeGeneres’ television talk show is expected to broadcast the much-anticipated first interview with the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino security guard, who was the first shooting victim in the Oct. 1 massacre in Las Vegas.

In a recording of his appearance on “Ellen” obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Campos, who said he was “doing better each day, slowly but surely,” confirmed he had called in when he was shot - before the full rampage began.

But he gave few other details that would answer nagging questions about the response of hotel security and Las Vegas police.

He said he called security dispatch to transfer his call to the building"s engineers, who sent an engineer to examine the door.

“At that time I heard what I assumed was drilling sounds,” Campos said. (Officials have said that Paddock appeared to be drilling into a wall inside his room for unknown reasons.) As Campos walked down the hall, away from Paddock"s suite, the outer door of the access room, which was unblocked, closed loudly behind him.

“I believe that"s what caught the shooter"s attention,” Campos said. “As I was walking down, I heard rapid fire, and at first I took cover.” The gunman was shooting through the door of his hotel suite. “I don"t know how he was shooting.”

Campos felt a “burning sensation” and went to lift his pant leg up and, seeing blood, realized he’d been shot.

“That"s when I called it in on my radio that shots had been fired,” Campos said. “I was going to say that I was hit, but I got on my cellphone just to clear that radio traffic for — they can coordinate the rest of the call.”

The photo of Campos holding a cane on the set Tuesday shows him alongside maintenance engineer Stephen Schuck, who was also shot at by the gunman on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.

The Less We Believe Them About Las Vegas, The More They Want Our Guns

Authored by James George Jatras via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Once again, there has been a mass shooting in the United States and the usual script is in play.

America’s ‘gun culture’ is to blame!

  Before the blood was dry gun control advocates had trotted out their standard list of remedial measures, none of which would have prevented what had just taken place.

Since the Las Vegas massacre we have been regaled about evil guns by factually ignorant buffoons like Bill Maher, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and John Oliver – the last two not even Americans. Anyone who disagrees is just wrong and callous about the loss of innocent life. We now import foreigners to insult us and our institutions and pay them outrageous salaries to do it.

Las Vegas was a bit different from previous mass shooting in at least two glaring respects.

First, the inability of law enforcement to discover a motive remains the biggest mystery. Admittedly, these same authorities in the US – and even worse in Europe – typically find themselves scratching their collective head in puzzlement after a murderer shouting “Allahu Akbar” kills a bunch of people. (What did he mean by that? Maybe that’s Arabic for “Merry Christmas”! We’re still trying to figure out why he did it, but we’re sure it had nothing to do with Islam. And anyone who says it did is a racist.) At this point, the actions of the person identified as the Las Vegas killer (whose name will not be mentioned here to deny whatever immortality he may have sought) are attributed to mental instability. That’s not good enough. Subjectively, even maniacs think they are doing something. Even a total lunatic who believes he is, say, fighting Martians or chopping potatoes, intends that outcome. But here, supposedly, someone stockpiles weapons for months, meticulously plans a murderous onslaught – and maybe had contingencies for attacks elsewhere – and there’s not a hint of what he thought he was up to. That’s simply not plausible. (Repeated claims by Daesh that the Las Vegas killer was one of their “soldiers” have not yet been substantiated but authorities were lightning-quick to dismiss the possibility. Meanwhile, despite a total lack of evidence, multiple “RussiaGate” investigations of the Trump Administration roll on and on. Let’s not be hasty, some connection to the Kremlin might eventually turn up . . . )

Second, there’s the money. The individual in question, as confirmed by his girlfriend as well as by his brother and other family members, was quite rich. Supposedly his initial wealth was made via savvy real estate deals (possible) but later was sustained by being really, really good at video poker at Las Vegas casinos, where he was a welcome regular “comped” by the House with food, drinks, hotel rooms, and other goodies. That’s not just implausible, it’s virtually impossible. As Ann Coulter points out, the fact that he was “was treated like royalty by the casinos . . . means he was losing... Anyone who plays video poker over an extended period of time will absolutely, 100 percent, by basic logic, end up a net loser.” If anyone would know this, it’s police in Los Vegas, where casino operators are pillars of the community and gambling is the major industry. It’s clear to anyone with half a brain that the killer was laundering money – from somewhere yet to be disclosed. In our age of digital financial surveillance, casinos are among the last places someone can anonymously churn large amounts of unsourced cash, no questions asked. Maybe the police and FBI haven’t figured out where the money was coming from, or maybe they have and are protecting someone.

In any case, the inability to get a straight answer to the questions, or even to ascertain simple facts like whether a hotel security guard was shot before or after the mass killing began, or when the first call was made to police, feeds public distrust and speculation as to what the hell is really is going on. That is turn prompts establishment gatekeepers like Snopes to denounce as “conspiracy theorists” (mainly of the “far right” variety, because the existence of a far left is itself a conspiracy theory) folks trying to make sense of the nonsense we’re being force-fed.

At least Las Vegas has shined a light on one deception that has long been standard in the American media: the notion – no doubt believed by many outside the US – that Americans routinely run around with machine guns shooting each other. This impression is fed by false claims of gun-control advocates that “assault rifles” – semiautomatic guns (where one trigger-pull equals one round fired) – are “weapons of war.” What makes them not like contemporary weapons of war is that they are not fully automatic (hold the trigger down for multiple, rapid rounds), which is why gun control advocates abuse the trick designation “military style” – they look scarier than semiautomatic hunting rifles because of cosmetic features like pistol grips and folding stocks. Fully automatic weapons (i.e., machine guns) have been virtually impossible acquire legally in the US for decades. The evident use in Las Vegas of a so-called “bump stock” to allow a semiautomatic to fire in a manner similar to a machine gun has forced even our fake news outlets to note the distinction. It’s a rare breakout of actual facts.

Ironically, when the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects Americans’ fundamental right to keep and bear arms, was adopted, ordinary civilian guns really were equal to weapons of war. In fact, they were sometimes better. Think of how the standard British “Brown Bess” smoothbore was outclassed by the far more accurate Pennsylvania Rifle – perfect for picking off Redcoat officers at long range.

Advocates in gun control in America are always saying they just want “common-sense gun control” laws, like “closing the gun show loophole,” having stricter background checks, limiting the size of magazines, restricting the number of weapons or amount of ammunition someone can buy, and other seemingly innocuous measures. Each is a fraud.

For example, closing the so-called gun show loophole would be basically a ban on private transfers from one citizen to another – such as a man selling, or giving, a pistol or rifle to his cousin – without all the reporting and red tape federally licensed arms dealers must deal with. This is despite the fact that none the notable killings that supposedly justify more controls was carried out with a weapon from such a sale or would have been prevented if the demanded reform had been in place.

Meanwhile, the real American slaughter continues in cities where gun laws are as strict as those in any country in Europe, and it is virtually impossible for an honest citizen to acquire and carry a legal weapon.

For example, last month Chicago reached its 500^th homicide so far this year, and by New Year’s Day 2018 is on track to rack up a total exceeding ten times that of the Las Vegas massacre.

What’s the solution? Evidently to infringe on the constitutional rights of honest, peaceful, law-abiding citizens who are armed and increasingly distrustful of what they are being told by their supposed betters.

FBI 'Hand-In-Hand' With Vegas PD, Begin Damage Control: "There Is No Conspiracy... Nobody Is Attempt to Hide Anything"

Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department appeared to be visibly shaken when told reporters Friday that he wasn’t attempting to be “subversive” in previous statements he made surrounding details of the October 1 massacre at the Route 91 Music Festival where 58 people lost their lives.

As Intellihub details, in the ‘no questions’ conference, which members of the independent media were not allowed to attend, the sheriff said that he’s “well aware” of the timeline dispute released by MGM Management on Thursday which claims that Stephen Paddock fired his weapon into the crowd just seconds after Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos was struck by a bullet in the 32nd-floor hallway outside the shooter’s end suite.

The sheriff stuck to his guns on Friday when he told reporters that he still ‘stands by’ his latest timeline which lists Campos’s encounter with Paddock at 9:59 p.m., 6 minutes prior Paddock’s first known volley of fully-automatic gunfire.

The visibly nervous sheriff also made clear that “there is no conspiracy between the FBI, LVMPD, or the MGM” and that “nobody is attempting to hide anything” in reference to the investigation and noted his solidarity with the FBI.

“We are standing hand-in-hand with the FBI in the continuance of this investigation,” the sheriff explained.

“I feel confident that there are no other individuals that are intending to cause harm to our community associated with the 1 October event.”

Sheriff Lombardo also provided an explanation for changes he recently made to the publicly released timeline surrounding Paddock’s arrival to Vegas and his check-in date at the Mandalay Bay.

“We have come to learn that the suspect did occupy the room on the 25th and the situation on how the room was compensated or paid for had changed on the 28th to include Marilou Danley,” he explained.

Additionally, the sheriff told reporters that so far there has only been a “visual inspection” done of Paddock’s brain and said that Paddock’s brain was shipped to a facility that will conduct a “microscopic analysis of the brain” to see if there were any signs of mental illness.

As of yet, authorities admit that they still have no motive for Paddock’s crimes and maintain that he has no affiliation with any groups.

At one point a reporter tried to sneak a question in but was quickly swatted down by Lombardo over the podium mic.

This fiasco comes after earlier chaos surrounding the sudden disappearance of Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos, who was shot in the leg by Stephen Paddock...

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

Over the last few days Las Vegas law enforcement officials have significantly altered the timeline of the mass shooting that left 59 dead and hundreds injured. Adding further intrigue is the fact that the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino now says that they have their own timeline of events, which diverge from the official story.

Media scrum tonight as we learn security officer shot in Vegas attack, Jesus Campos’ whereabouts are unknown. pic.twitter.com/Jk09tRlPsX

— Stephanie Wash (@WashNews) October 13, 2017

On top of that, mystery still surrounds Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos, who was shot in the leg when Stephen Paddock opened fire and unleashed some 200 rounds through the door of his hotel room.

As Fox News reports, the Mandalay Bay security guard shot by Stephen Paddock in the moments leading up to the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history was set to break his silence Thursday night with five television interviews, including one on Fox News, Campos" union president said.

Except when the cameras were about to roll, and media gathered in the building to talk to him, Campos reportedly bolted, and, as of early Friday morning, it wasn"t immediately clear where he was.

“We were in a room and we came out and he was gone,” Campos" union president told reporters, according to ABC News’ Stephanie Wash.

ampos, who is reportedly not registered to work in the State of Nevada, was also scheduled to do an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night. But just minutes before the interview was to take place, Campos was said to have abruptly cancelled his appearance:

How come @seanhannity didn’t run the #JesusCampos interview tonight? #LasVegasShooting

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 13, 2017

He cancelled. https://t.co/fWCb4X8cNQ

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) October 13, 2017

In response to the cancellation, alternative media reporter Laura Loomer attempted to reach out to Campos, who has thus far remained shielded behind his union representatives and refused to provide his account of the shooting to the public. According to Loomer, it appears that Campos and his family have been forced to remain silent because of a gag order surrounding the incident.

She “doorstopped” the Campos family in person when she visited their home in Las Vegas Thursday night.

I just doorstopped #JesusCampos after it was reported he canceled his interview with @seanhannity. I can confirm his family has a gag order. https://t.co/lNMaaaZzWC

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 13, 2017

According to a video Loomer posted on Periscope, Campos has armed security and it appears that an unmarked law enforcement vehicle is parked outside his home.

#JesusCampos is missing? Laura Loomer pays him a SECOND home visit #LasVegasShooting https://t.co/Hue57jqveu

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 13, 2017

Additional videos show Loomer asking members of the Campos family for more information about why he chose to cancel his interviews:

.@LauraLoomer visits home of #LasVegasShooting “hero” #JesusCampos after media told he is MIA. Family says “can’t talk”/ Gag order? pic.twitter.com/j6gq6lIISy

— TruNews™ (@TruNews) October 13, 2017

According to Loomer, Jesus Campos and his family members have been told not to discuss the incident. Further, when Loomer was confronted by an armed security guard outside of Campos’ home she noted that the firm the security guard supposedly works for is not registered to operate in Nevada, to which she asks the guard:

You said that you worked for OnScene, a security company. We did a background check…. and the business license expired in January 2017 and has a virtual address… so the company that you work for…. is it a real company? Or is it just some type of a shill company that the FBI or DHS is using?

.@LauraLoomer visits home of #LasVegasShooting “hero” #JesusCampos after media told he is MIA. Family says “can’t talk”/ Under gag order? pic.twitter.com/snlJswamGl

— TruNews™ (@TruNews) October 13, 2017

Little is known about Campos, with few pictures to emerge of the security guard and no apparent online footprint surfacing to provide details about one of the central figures in the mass shooting.

First Pictures Emerge Of Vegas Shooter's Weapons, Hotel Room

Somehow, Boston 25 News has obtained exclusive photos from what they describe as "police sources" purportedly showing the guns used during Sunday night"s massacre in Las Vegas, where a 64-year-old shooter with a room full of weapons fired on a country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino and resort, killing 59 people and injuring more than 500.

Boston 25’s Jacqui Henrich obtained the photos early Tuesday morning, and they clearly show the gun on the floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel room, along with many rounds of ammunition.

EXCLUSIVE: photo from inside #MandalayBay shooter’s hotel room shows gun, ammo, hammer, bipod, optics @boston25 pic.twitter.com/4B2iRhquq5

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) October 3, 2017

A hammer that was presumably used to break the windows of the room, which was on the 32nd floor, can be seen beside the gun. The bipod used to stand the weapon on as the shooter sprayed the crowd with bullets is also in view.

Las Vegas police said the shooter, Stephen Paddock of Mesquite Nevada, had 23 guns inside his hotel room, including semiautomatic rifles. An additional 19 guns were discovered in his home in Mesquite, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition. Meanwhile, explosives were found in his car, suggesting he may have been planning something even worse than the worst mass shooting in modern American history.

Paddock killed himself as police entered his hotel room, Boston 25 reported.

While none of the weapons in the photos are fully automatic arms, the "bump stock" that was used by the shooter to mimic automatic-weapons fire can plainly be seen attached to the butt of one of the shooter"s rifles, as the Tribunist points out.

* * *

In a development that only deepens the mystery surrounding Paddock"s motives, NBC news is reporting that the man who will go down in history as the Mandalay Bay shooter lost a slip-and-fall lawsuit against a Nevada casino in 2014. He reportedly still owed $270 in court fees at the time of his attack.

Security video from the Cosmopolitan Hotel shows Paddock slipping and falling on Oct. 30, 2011, as he walked from a hotel shop towards a high-stakes area in the casino. Paddock said he had slipped in a puddle of liquid and sued the hotel in 2012, initially asking for $100,000, according to an attorney for the hotel.

Footage showing Paddock slipping and falling...

The lawyer met Paddock when he testified in a deposition for the lawsuit. Paddock enjoyed a special high-roller status with perks at at least one Vegas casino, the lawyer said, but he was unkempt in his appearance, looking slovenly and "bizarre" during the deposition.

However, the lawyer said there was "nothing about Paddock that would ever indicate someone who was unstable."

"This is not a guy that I would have looked at and thought, "He"s going to commit a crime one day."

Paddock"s suit ended up in arbitration in 2014. According to the decision, Paddock reported incurring more than in $32,000 in medical bills, and also wanted to be paid for pain and suffering. Security video shows him getting medical attention and then being stretchered out of the casino.

"As a result of the fall," said the document, "Mr. Paddock allegedly sustained a tear to his hamstring as well as a sprain/strain injury to his wrist" and elevated blood pressure. The hotel maintained that Paddock had failed to prove negligence because "there was no actual or constructive notice of any liquid in the area of the sundry shop."

The arbitrator confirmed that the video does show Paddock slipping and falling, but also noted a custodian can be seen passing the same spot about a minute before Paddock"s accident, followed by about 20 hotel customers, and none of them "appear to have noticed anything on the floor [or] tried to avoid a wet area."

According to Paddock"s brother Eric, Paddock was a millionaire thanks in part to real estate holdings in California. Caesar"s Entertainment had granted him a "Seven Stars" designation as a frequent gambler "with status" at its casino properties, according to a source familiar with the investigation. Seven Stars is the highest level that a high roller can achieve and is only granted by invitation.

In the weeks prior to his death, according to multiple senior law enforcement officials and a casino executive, Paddock had gambled large sums of money at Vegas casinos. Currency transaction reports show that Paddock had recently gambled more than $10,000 a day,

Wynn Resorts Macau Casino Books $10M "Black Swan" Gambling Loss

Wynn Resorts, the casino and resort company controlled by billionaire mogul and former Trump political adviser Steve Wynn, booked a staggering gambling loss that one economist described as a “black swan” during the second quarter when one of its subcontractors in charger of keeping the casino stocked with high rollers lost money for a whole month.

The loss was revealed by Wynn during the company’s second-quarter earnings call earlier this week, when he described how Suncity Group, a junket operator that recruits high-roller clients for the casinos, brought in clients whose winnings cost the casino more than $10 million in April, according to Bloomberg.

"On Tuesday, casino billionaire Steve Wynn revealed that a junket operator in his Macau casinos - essentially a subcontractor - brought in clients whose winnings cost the casino more than $10 million in April, an astonishing swing for a business that can generate profit of as much as $50 million.

"We had probably the most unique statistical anomaly in my 50 years of doing this," the founder and chief executive officer of Wynn Resorts told analysts on a conference call. "And that is with enormous volume, one of our leading outlets lost money for the entire month.""

The high-rollers made millions, Wynn explained, with the casino on the hook for it.

“The bottom fell out and all of the players won millions of dollars,” said the 75-year-old casino mogul.

According to Bloomberg, the loss occurred at the Wynn Palace baccarat tables. The Palace is Wynn’s new $4.2 billion resort on Macau’s Cotai Strip, a market teeming with high rollers. Macau has a system where junket operators like Suncity bring high rollers to casinos, front them cash and pay for private rooms. The casinos then pay the operators a commission based on the amount their clients bet.

Though the anecdote was clearly intended to amuse, it also contains some insight into the behavior of Wynn shares following the company’s Tuesday earnings release. The company’s stock dropped 4% despite the company beating on the top-line numbers as investors raised concerns about weakness in the company’s mass-market business, which tends to be more profitable – and more stable – than the VIP business segment.

Robert Hannum, a professor of risk at the University of Denver who was interviewed by Bloomberg, explained that a string of losses of this magnitude is extremely unlikely in baccarat, though the game does have some of the best odds for players.

“The odds are astronomically high,” he said in an e-mail. “Of course, black swans do occur and some might say that anything can happen in the casino business.”

In baccarat, the house advantage averages 1.2 percent - meaning a player can expect to lose $1.20 for every $100 bet over time. That’s compared with a loss ratio as high as $12 for slots. The inherent volatility of the casino business, a phenomenon with which President Donald Trump is well acquainted, has forced some resort companies to use creative accounting techniques to prevent a stretch of bad luck from ruining a quarter.

“The volatility of the business has prompted some casino operators to report their results on a hold-adjusted basis, meaning they also tell investors what revenue would have been had winnings been more in line with historical norms.

In January, Las Vegas Sands Corp. blamed one lucky gambler for contributing in part to a $15 million to $20 million shortfall at its new Parisian resort in Macau. On Wednesday, the company said the volatile high-end baccarat play contributed to a $100 million revenue bump at its Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.”

Wynn is becoming known for his antics during earnings calls. During the company’s Q1 2016 call, Wynn launched into an epic tirade about naked short-sellers before excoriating HFT firms for front-running orders and other market-rigging techniques, saying “have very little respect for the integrity of the trading on the exchange in most stocks.”
 

Condo Flippers In Miami-Dade Left Twisting In The Wind

By Wolf Richter of Wolf Street

Ballooning Condo Glut ensnares preconstruction speculators.

Miami-Dade’s spectacular condo flipping mania is in turmoil, with sales plunging, inventory-for-sale soaring, and new supply flooding the market. It’s not like Miami hasn’t been through this before.

In February, existing home sales of all types fell 10% year-over-year, to 1,835 homes. These sales “do not include Miami’s multi-billion dollar new construction condo market,” the Miami Association of Realtors clarified in its report on March 23.

And this new construction market that is not included has become distressed.

Sales of single-family homes fell 10% in February, to 881 houses. The report blamed the shortage of properties “in popular price points.” Prices have been rising sharply, and at the price points where people could actually buy a house – below $250,000 – few sellers were playing ball. Hence a stalling market. Sales of high-priced units rose, but they weren’t enough to pull out the totals.

Condo sales fell 10% as well, to 954 units. This time, the report didn’t blame the lack of supply. Instead: “Existing condo sales are competing with a robust new construction market.” At the same time, inventory of existing condos for sale, not including new units, rose 10% to 15,289. At the current sales rate, supply soared 29% to 14 months.

This chart by StatFunding shows the plunge in sales and the surge in condos listed for sale. I circled the last five Februaries on the sales line (red). From February 2014 to February 2017, condo sales have plunged 25%. Andrew Stearns, StatFunding’s founder and CEO, calls the resale inventory – the dark green line that has soared 90% since early 2013 – “scary”:

Even this “scary” inventory understates the total number of condos for sale. It only includes units listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). But developers normally don’t list their new units on the MLS, and thus they’re not included in the above chart.

This is the distressed market that preconstruction condo flippers are facing.

Preconstruction condo flippers make a highly leveraged bet. They buy the condo from the developer during the construction phase. The initial deposit is small. Additional payments are required as construction progresses. But in a booming market, lenders are eager to lend. Then, often around the time the building is completed, flippers try to unload the condo at a profit. This bet has been hot in the condo construction boom around the country. But in Miami, the bet is now collapsing.

During good times, developers sell all their units either to end-users or to flippers within a few months of completion. But now, developers are getting stuck with unsold units, which, as Stearns points out, marked the “inflection points of previous condo cycles.”

The 12 large developments completed between late 2015 and late 2016 have added 2,743 condos to the market. Developers still own 433 of them (15.8%).

In addition, preconstruction flippers are also trying to unload their units. In those 12 developments alone, 451 condos, or 16.4% of the total, have been listed for sale on the MLS.

Here is the granular detail as of March 22 per StatFunding (sources: MLS, Miami-Dade Recorder; completion date in parenthesis):

• Echo Aventura, 190 units (8/2015). Developer sits on 13 units (7%) and took out a bridge loan secured by those units. 36 units have appeared on the MLS.


• Crimson, 90 units (12/2015). Developer is stuck with 30 units (34%!) and has sold only 1 unit since December 2016. 12 units listed for sale on MLS.


• Peloro Miami Beach, 114 units (3/2016). Developer has sold all but 2 units. This includes 3 units sold via bulk sale this year. But 38 units – 33% of the total! – are listed on the MLS for resale.


• CityCenter Reach, 390 units (4/2016). Developer is stuck with 46 units (12%). Meanwhile, 47 units have appeared on the MLS for resale.


• Le Parc Brickell, 128 units (6/2016). The developer has listed the 9 units that haven’t sold yet on the MLS, in addition to 23 units listed on the MLS by condo flippers, for a total of 32 units – 25% of the total!


• Centro, 352 units (7/2016). Developer sits on 34 units and has not sold any in 2017. Meanwhile, 56 units (16% of total) are listed on MLS.


• Bond, 328 units (8/2016). Developer still has 23 units, including 12 that an affiliate of the developer purchased in bulk in March. And 72 units (22%) have been listed for sale on MLS.


• Grove Grand Bay, 98 units (8/2016). Developer owns 7 units; 31 units (32%!) have been listed on MLS.


• CityCenter Rise, 390 units (9/2016). Developer still sits on 212 units (54%). According to Stearns, “developer closings have slowed to a trickle, and it appears the initial sell-through is nearly complete.” Already, 24 units are listed on MLS.


• SLS Brickell, 450 units (11/2016). Developer is down to 8 units, four months after completion. “This is what a successful sell-through looks like,” Stearns says. Condo flippers have listed 55 units for sale.


• Casa Brickell, 81 units (11/2016). Developer sits on 22 units (27%); 8 units (10%) have already appeared on MLS.


• Porsche Design, 132 units (12/2016). Developer still has 27 units (20%). “Initial sell-through closings are slowing,” and only 4 developer units sold in March, Stearns says. But 40 units (30% of total) have been listed for resale on MLS.

This sort of data begs the question: How many people actually live in units they own in these buildings?

For developers, the equation is getting dicey. Stearns:

Stuck with unsold units, some developers have not repaid their construction loans, others have taken out bridge loans to carry unsold units. The developer is responsible for taxes, maintenance fees, and insurance for unsold units, and unsold units are probably negative carry for the developer.

Developers may resort to mark-down liquidation or bulk sales of unsold condos as the cycle progresses….

Part of the problem? The market teems with foreign buyers. But the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has figured out that there is a large amount of money laundering in housing. It has started making noises. And cash deals are plunging in  Miami-Dade. In February they were down 17.5% year-over-year to 580 condo deals, or 61% of all condos sold. Other money-laundering hotspots too are being targeted, and answers are starting to emerge.

Vegas Strip Partially Shut After One Person Shot Dead; Gunman Surrenders After Barricade Stand Off With police

Update: Police reported that the suspect had surrendered shortly before 3:30pm local time. They asked anyone with information to contact the police department. Hadfield revealed to the media that the shooter was armed with a handgun and was the only person on the bus before he surrendered. "This is a single incident and is not deemed to be terrorism-related," he said.

* * *

One person has died in a shooting during an ongoing standoff that has forced the partial closure of the Las Vegas strip after a gunman barricaded himself inside a bus.

We"re currently investigating a shooting that occurred on S. Las Vegas Blvd. near Harmon. There is no active shooter. #LVMPDnews

— LVMPD (@LVMPD) March 25, 2017

LOUD explosion heard & smoke seen rising from area of barricaded bus. Clark County Fire Dept ambulance pulled up to scene, then turned away. pic.twitter.com/AE3twwNOwS

— Kyndell Nunley (@KyndellNews3LV) March 25, 2017

The standoff began after a shooting was reported Saturday on Las Vegas Boulevard in the heart of the Strip near the Cosmopolitan hotel.  According to AP, Las Vegas Boulevard is closed between Flamingo Road and Harmon Avenue. Police say they do not believe there are any other suspects.

S. Las Vegas Blvd. between Flamingo & Harmon remains closed due to a barricade subject on bus. Please avoid the area. #LVMPDnews

— LVMPD (@LVMPD) March 25, 2017

Cops pleading "come out of the bus. No one else needs to get hurt" #cosmopolitan

— Scot Pollard (@ScotPollard31) March 25, 2017

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said two people were taken to the hospital after the Saturday shooting. She said one person has died and the other is in fair condition.

Police negotiators and tactical teams are on the scene. Police say they do not believe there are any other suspects and they believe the shooter is on the bus. Police say they do not believe there are any other suspects.

"We had one single shooting incident with two victims. Both were transported to the trauma center and one is deceased," Officer Larry Hadfield told USA Today.

"This incident is being treated as a barricade at this time. There is no credible information that there is a second suspect," Officer Hadfield told CNN.

Caught On Video: Mass Panic Strikes Bellagio As Robbers In Pig Masks Open Fire Inside Rolex Store

Mass panic struck the Bellagio early this morning as three pig-masked, armed robbers decided to try to knock off the Rolex store just as a bunch of drunk guests were stumbling home from their night of general debauchery.  Luckily, the dulled senses of these plastered guests allowed them the courage to film the whole scene rather than duck for cover so we"re able to present the whole dumbed-down version of an Ocean"s Eleven remake in real time.

According to media reports, at least three people entered the Rolex store inside the Bellagio in the wee hours of Saturday morning.  The robbers apparently used sledgehammers to break through the glass entrance of the store.  While initial reports indicated that shots were fired, police subsequently confirmed those reports to be false.

The whole scene was captured on video here:

Meanwhile, rather than hide, Kira decided to snap some pics of the robbery for Twitter and even took the time to include all the relevant hashtags...well done, Kira.

Literally just witnessed an armed robber in a pig mask at a Rolex store at the Bellagio & then his arrest #bellagio #vegas #rolex #robbery pic.twitter.com/m53T6bHS2z

— Kira (@Kir_kamil) March 25, 2017

And this was the scene outside as police swarmed the casino:

Per the USA Today, the incident happened shortly before 3 AM Vegas time.

The incident happened shortly before 3 a.m. local time, and witnesses told police the men smashed the store"s windows to get inside, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

Las Vegas police confirmed a robbery occurred, saying three people were involved and one was taken into custody.

Meanwhile, unlike Kira, JillyJill at least decided to duck under a table before live-tweeting the robbery...way to play it safe, JillyJill.