Casino magnate Steve Wynn said Sunday that even though Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock seemed like a “rational” man, some of his actions would have raised red flags at his properties.
Wynn — the CEO of Wynn Resorts, which owns several hotels in Las Vegas —said at his properties, an investigation is launched if someone puts “do not disturb” on a room for at least 12 hours.
“The scenario that we’re aware of would have indicated that he didn’t let anyone in the room for two or three days, that would have triggered a whole bunch of alarms here,” Wynn told Fox News’ Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. “ And we would have — on behalf of the guests, of course, investigated for safety and it would have been provocative situation. I’m sure that the same is true in other hotels but in this hotel, a 36-hour, a 24-hour, 36-hour ‘Do Not Disturb’ on a room is a predicate for investigation.”
He’s also been in the process of bolstering the security measures at his properties — a process Wynn said he started nearly two years ago when he realized Las Vegas could become a target of some kind of attack. Part of that beefed-up security protocol includes routine checks for weapons. Wynn said any visitor found carrying a gun is removed from his property.
But Wynn acknowledged that Paddock did not publicly display any alarming issues, or fit the profile of a compulsive gambler — admitting that he would not have thought to stop Paddock from staying at one of his hotels.
“The most vanilla profile one could possibly imagine,” Wynn said. ” A modest gambler at least by our standards, you know, nothing serious, paid promptly, never owed any money anywhere in Las Vegas.”
On Oct. 1, 64-year-old Paddock opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. The shots, fired from the 32nd floor of his hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killed 58 people and injured more than 500 others. Authorities subsequently discovered more than a dozen guns in his hotel room.
MGM International, which owns Mandalay Bay, lost almost $1 billion the day of the shooting after shares of the company fell nearly 5%.
Authorities have yet to publicly identify a motive for Paddock’s desire to open fire. Wynn, noting the discrepancy between Paddock’s outward “rational” behavior and the decision to commit a mass shooting, said he thinks Paddock was either “demented” or was trying to send a message.
“We don’t know what that message is or if there is one, but this behavior, according to my employees, is as stunning, as unexpected as anybody, any of them have ever met,” he said.