active shooter Stephen Paddock shot and killed 58 people on the night of Sunday 1 October from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. A puzzling report has emerged on YouTube nearly a month after the incident, that is an alleged air traffic tape from the nearby airport, which reported active shooters on the runway.
The Independent reported that the "Mccarran International Airport, about two miles away, grounded all planes and diverted some incoming flights after reports of the shootings emerged." This was understandable as there were high powered weapons in use during the reported Mandalay Bay attack.
In the confusion of such an attack by an active shooter, it made sense to safeguard the airport facility as there may well have been more than one shooter in more than one location.
Active shooter tape purportedly from airport
The Youtube video that purports to be a tape from an air traffic recording, was posted up by a YouTube Channel named SnowFlake Blender. The channel inexplicably has 607 subscribers, but the airport traffic tape that claims there were active shooters on the runway and in the airport appears to be the only post ever made by the channel.
The active shooter messages come during what looks and sounds like a standard evening at any busy airport. The first announcement via the video which runs for a total of 2.19 minutes said, "Rouge 1853 Heavy, make a left turn Bravo-5, Charlie to the ramp and just be advised there' an active shooter on the airport.
This is a blanket broadcast for all aircraft. Just a heads up, keep your speed up to the ramp, and...ah."
At that point, the voice stops. For some time, it looks and sounds like traffic as normal. "Spirit 788, Taxi inbound, BRAVO - 5 and contact the ramp." Omni 101 Heavy was cleared to land, as was Alaska 264. After 1minute and 20 seconds, air traffic seems to advise planes there is a hold on departures.
"Departures stand by one. We're not going anywhere for just a moment."
"There's an active shooter on the runway"
At one minute 58 seconds, there was a broken up transmission from Allegaint 9904 on 26L... to which the controller replies, "Shutting down right now might not be a good idea. There's active shooters on the runway. The 19s are closed, we're in the process of trying to round them up.
They're on the airport property." There is a brief paused and then, " I'm getting information now, I'm talking to like seven different people.
The YouTube post is not trending yet and was posted late 29 October. It cannot be determined at this time if this is a real recording, although it sounds authentic. If it really was a real recording, where are the police statements to the press about it? Is it possible the air traffic controllers were confused about the initial reports of the active shooter at Mandalay Bay? Times Live reported that " McCarran International Airport said on Twitter it had temporarily halted flights after the shooting," but there was no report of active shooters at the airport itself.
The first share of the YouTube Video on Twitter seems to have come from a user to the Laura Loomer Twitter account. Laura Loomer is, according to her Twitter profile, an Investigative Journalist Former @Project_Veritas operative. According to her many followers and her own posts, Laura seems to believe there is some kind of ongoing cover-up over the background of Paddock, the mass shooter and the whole story released to the media.
Then why are they telling us he committed suicide? I don't think #StephenPaddock killed himself. Just more lies/ inconsistencies from @LVMPD https://t.co/LGZoTh2SFv
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 29, 2017
There are plenty of people out there who believe there is some conspiracy coverup.
It seems inconceivable that Paddock acted on his own, and official news that has been released creates just a bigger puzzle. If indeed there is a cover-up, the background story to the newly aired airport active shooter may never be known for certain. Do you think this was a mix up in all the confusion? Is the tape for real? Do you think there is some real explaining away to do?