Also, that the stairwell was somehow secured, which I take to mean difficult to enter from the corridor.
If these statements are correct, this raises the serious possibility there was indeed someone else who went into the adjoining room, locked it from the inside, exited into the corridor from that adjoining room, went down the stairwell and as he went down the steps somehow blocked the door to the stairwell to keep anyone from following him.
And which door was ajar? The one directly into the main room, or the door from the corridor to the adjoining room? Did a second person leave it open as he fled, if the latter?
Interesting points. Here is latest timeline from LVPD.
10:05 First shots fired at crowd.
10:12 Two officers on 31st floor.
10:15 Last shots outside building.
10:17 First two officers enter 32nd floor after hotel dispatch reports guard locating room.
10:18 Officers radio guard was shot and located.
So guard must have interrupted shooter at around 10:15. There is only a 3 minute window for a second shooter to escape. The guard should have seen him.
The stairwell near the room was barricaded so it could not be opened from stairwell from what I gather. Looks like one shooter. Why have a second shooter up there anyway with a car down below loaded with explosives.
By the way, I think the fact that the door was ajar when the security guard came up to it is huge, if true.
Paddock would NOT have carelessly left the door to the suite open while he was busy shooting up a music festival.
Very strongly implies that someone else was in the suite and left some time before the security guard got there, leaving the door partially open as he got out of Dodge.
Paddock was left behind, perhaps he was going to follow right behind, but the security guard showed up in the meantime. And then Paddock opened fire on the guard, and then shot himself.
Did this second person, if there was one, have another room in the hotel he went to? Was he an employee of the hotel?