A security guard hailed a hero for saving hotel guests despite being shot by Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock has been named.
Jesus Campos was on a ‘random patrol’ on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel when he was shot in the right thigh by Paddock who fired more than 200 rounds through the door of his room.
Police say Paddock opened fire after spotting Campos approaching on a secret surveillance camera he had installed – miraculously only injuring, not killing, the courageous guard.
Even more incredibly, when police arrived 60 seconds later, Campos not only gave them his master key and information, he also helped clear nearby rooms of bystanders, Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo revealed.
He is likely to have prevented America’s worst mass shooting from being even more deadly by interrupting Paddock’s atrocity and radioing in his position.
Despite being left with a bullet lodged in his leg, the guard, hailed for his ‘amazing bravery’, told ABC News: ‘I’m fine. I was just doing my job’.
The guard only sought medical attention when ordered to leave by the police, Lombardo claimed.
The sheriff said Campos had distracted Paddock from his spree, but added that police were just seconds behind him – and would have done the same if Campos had not been there.
Lombardi said: ‘His bravery was amazing. He gave our officers the key guard for the room and then continued clearing rooms until he was ordered to go seek attention.’
The identity of the brave security guard was confirmed by the International Union, Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America.
International President David Hickey said he did not know whether Campos, a long-time employee at the resort, was armed, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal.
It is thought he had just a baton to defend himself as he investigated the shooting and was understood to be the first person to reach the shooter’s position.
The guard’s brave action’s were also praised by US President Donald Trump when he visited Las Vegas yesterday.
According to The Telegraph, Trump said: ‘He did a good job, didn’t he? He did a good job. Now, his option would have been try to do it himself. But if it doesn’t work, you (the police) wouldn’t have had the information, maybe, right? He did the right thing.’
Campos has now been released from hospital, the Review-Journal reports.
In an update last night, Lombardo claimed that Paddock, who killed 58 civilians and injured hundreds more before killing himself on Sunday, had originally hoped to survive his shooting and flee justice – and likely had an accomplice.
Paddock, 64, had planned to escape the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel after firing on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, Lombardo revealed in a press conference Wednesday.
Lombardo declined to reveal why he believed that Paddock had an exit planned, but said he was confident in the claim – and said that his scheme was so elaborate that he would have to be a ‘super hero’ to pull it off alone.
He also announced that the count of people injured in the attack was lower than initially stated – 489, not 527 – due to confusion at hospitals.
It wasn’t clear why Lombardo thought that Paddock had expected to survive his insane assault, which is the worst mass shooting in US history.
But he said that he believed the killer had ceased firing on the terrified civilians in order to figure out how he could escape, as SWAT teams closed in on his room.
He also noted that Paddock’s car contained two 50lbs of the explosive Tannerite – in two 20lb tins and 10 1lb tins – as well as 1,600 rounds of ammunition.
A journalist in the press pool asked whether Paddock had planned to use the vehicle to escape, but Lombardo declined to answer.