The coroner’s finding contradicts a timeline released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which states that Stephen Paddock, 64, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 11:20 p.m. on Oct. 1 in his 32nd-floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino. The coroner’s report instead states that Paddock died at noon on Oct. 2, more than 12 hours after the time states in the LVMPD timeline.
The autopsy report, signed by Clark County Coroner Lisa Gavin, states that Paddock died at “1200 hours” on Oct. 2 from an “intraoral gunshot wound of the head.” Gavin concluded that Paddock committed suicide.
In two prior instances in the report, the 24-hour time format is used, meaning that “1200 hours” refers to noon on the day after the shooting. Paddock’s autopsy commenced at “1622 hours,” or 4:22 p.m., on Oct. 6, Gavin writes.
The jarring disconnect between the police timeline and the autopsy report furthers the mystery surrounding the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. Before releasing a preliminary report on the shooting on Jan. 20, investigators didn’t release any new details to the media for months.
According to the official version of the events, Paddock prepared for months before he hauled dozens of semi-automatic guns to his Mandalay Bay suite and rained more than 1,000 bullets on a crowd attending a large-scale, open-air country music concert. Paddock is suspected of killing 58 people and injuring hundreds of others.
Police have yet to determine the motive for the shooting.
Paddock’s autopsy included a toxicology test and a brain exam, which found that he had anti-anxiety medication in his system. He also had hypertensive cardiovascular disease, the report states.
The bullet that killed Paddock entered his head through the inside of his mouth, traveled upward to the back of his skull and became ledged in the bone.
