The heroic security guard who saved hotel guests and directed police to Stephen Paddock’s whereabouts – despite being shot – 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’.
A hero security guard who saved hotel guests despite being shot by Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, pictured, has been named as Jesus Campos
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 at him through the door of his room. Pictures show a room service cart outside Paddock’s room
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 actions were also praised by US President Donald Trump when he visited Las Vegas yesterday.
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.
An investigator is seen on Wednesday peering through one of the windows that Paddock smashed so he could open fire on the crowd
Sheriff Joseph Lombardo (left) said on Wednesday that ‘You gotta make the assumption’ that Stephen Paddock (right), 64, had help in his plot to kill and maim hundreds in Las Vegas on Sunday. He also said there was evidence Paddock planned to escape
In an update on Wednesday 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.
Lombardo said Paddock fired ‘over 200’ rounds through these doors when he spotted a security guard approaching the room. Miraculously, the guard was only injured, and was able to tell police exactly where Paddock was
Investigators are still processing the festival site-turned-crime scene. The FBI warned in the press conference on Wednesday that it would be some time before all of the evidence that was being collected was properly examined
Lombardo also said he thought it was likely that Paddock had an accomplice, given the 23 rifles and piles of magazines in the room, the additional firearms in Paddock’s homes, and the electronic devices recovered from his Mesquite house.
Paddock would have had to have been a ‘super hero’ to pull it off, Lombardo said, before catching himself for using the word ‘hero’ to refer to a mass murderer.
‘Look at the weapon obtaining, the amounts of Tannerite available – do you think this was accomplished all on his own, face value?’ he said.
‘You gotta make the assumption he had to have help at some point, and we want to ensure that’s the answer.’
He continued: ‘Put two and two together: another residence in Reno with several firearms, okay, electronics, and everything else associated with it, large amounts of ammo, a place in Mesquite.
‘We know that he had a girlfriend. Do you think this is all self-facing, individuals are just, without talking to somebody, sequestered amongst themselves? Come on, folks.’
First lady Melania Trump looks on as Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo is embraced by President Donald Trump after the president gave a speech in a room full of police officers and family members at Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department headquarters
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk with surgeon Dr. John Fildes at the University Medical Center after meeting with victims of the mass shooting Wednesday
Air Force One departs Las Vegas, flying past the broken windows on the Mandalay Bay hotel, where shooter Stephen Paddock conducted his mass shooting
If Paddock did have an accomplice, then it might make sense of the claim made on Wednesday that Paddock had ordered room service for two guests days before the massacre – as shown by a receipt.
Lombardo also said that SWAT teams spotted two cameras on a room service cart outside Paddock’s suite, and one in the peephole of a door.
There was also a baby monitor camera in the family area of the hotel room, he said. None of them were recording.
However, it’s believed that they may have provided Paddock with a live view of the police as they advanced on his position.