Vegas Security Guard Lies Low, Sets Off Media Frenzy

Jesus Campos was shot in the leg by Stephen Paddock
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 17, 2017 2:30 PM CDT
Vegas Security Guard Hailed as Hero Is Lying Low
Workers install a #VegasStrong banner on the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino Oct. 16.   (AP Photo/John Locher)

He's the man everybody wants to speak with in regard to the Las Vegas shooting, but security guard Jesus Campos is apparently not interested. If Campos hoped this would deflect attention, it seems to be having the opposite effect. With headlines declaring that he has "vanished,"—see here and here—and even "mysteriously vanished," the myth-debunking website Snopes decided to dig in. Its conclusion: There's a world of difference between "vanishing" and merely withdrawing from the public eye, and it puts Campos in the latter category. Campos "is not missing," a Vegas police officer tells the website, sounding frustrated at some wild conspiracy theories surfacing. "He’s not under arrest." Campos is the security guard who was shot by Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.

Police initially said Campos had been shot in the hallway outside Paddock's room six minutes prior to Paddock's larger shooting spree—the unarmed Campos was praised as a hero—but authorities later revised the timeline to say that he had been shot about the same time Paddock began shooting at concert fans. Campos was going to address his role and any interaction with Paddock last Thursday in a spate of media interviews, but he abruptly canceled, and Campos' union president (who was helping coordinate the interviews) says he was told only that Campos ended up in a walk-in medical clinic. Reporters say a security guard is now parked outside Campos' home, and neighbors haven't seen him. "He's a hero,” one neighbor tells the Los Angeles Times, “and nobody knows where he is.” (More Las Vegas shooting stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X