# Las Vegas police fire officer



## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)

Alright we got to open this up for discussion and lets hear them all.

Somethings to be considered
1, This was not Charles Whitman with a bolt action rifle, this was a shooter or shooter(s) firing indiscriminately from a fortified position into the crowd with a illegally modified high powered automatic weapon with unlimited ammunition.

2, I get the fact we go toward the gun fire and try to stop the threat as soon as possible. Over the years we all have been drilled and trained that waiting for a TAC team is not always feasible and seconds count but this was nothing like the Petit family murders, we have look at the totality of the circumstances here.

3, This guy was with a brand new officer(still on FTO) and armed security (civilian)

4, He had no rifle or shotgun just a Smith and Wesson M&P he was, way, way, way out gunned.

5, From what it sounds like he was following his training he stopped was waiting for back up and then was going move in. If he had tried to move in on his own (pending he was able to breech the bolted door) he would have been quickly cut down.

6, Paddock wanted and was waiting for a CQC battle with the police.









You are not going to help anyone if you'er dead.






LAS VEGAS - Las Vegas police confirmed Tuesday that the department fired a veteran officer who froze in the hallway of a Las Vegas Strip hotel during a 2017 mass shooting as a gunman on the floor above opened fire on a country music festival.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Officer Larry Hadfield confirmed Tuesday night that Officer Cordell Hendrex was fired March 20. Hadfield did not offer additional details or answer questions regarding an internal review of the actions of Hendrex and other officers that night.
Police union president Steve Grammas told The Associated Press in an email that Hendrex had been fired because of his actions during the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting.

Hendrex acknowledged in a police report that he was "terrified with fear" as the gunman above killed 58 people in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

"I froze right there in the middle of the hall for how long I can't say," he wrote in the report.

Police body camera video released by the department shows Hendrex, along with a rookie officer and three hotel security officers, waiting in the hallway of the 31st floor in the Mandalay Bay casino-resort for about five minutes before moving to a stairwell leading to the 32nd floor, where the gunman was raining bullets onto the crowd above.

They remained in the stairwell for at least 15 minutes, when the video clip ends.

A phone call to a publicly listed number for Hendrex was not answered Tuesday night.

Grammas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which first reported Hendrex's firing, that the union does not believe the officer should have been fired and is fighting to get him reinstated.

News of Hendrex's firing comes on the heels of the firing of four police officers in Florida as a result of their inaction to the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where a gunman killed 17 people.

*CBS NV:*
Las Vegas police confirmed that the department fired a veteran officer who froze in the hallway of a Las Vegas Strip hotel during a 2017 mass shooting as a gunman on the floor above opened fire on a country music festival. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Officer Larry Hadfield confirmed Tuesday night that Officer Cordell Hendrex was fired March 20.
Hadfield did not offer additional details or answer questions regarding an internal review of the actions of Hendrex and other officers that night. Police union president Steve Grammas told The Associated Press in an email that Hendrex had been fired because of his actions during the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting.

Hendrex acknowledged in a police report that he was "terrified with fear" as the gunman above killed 58 people in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
"I froze right there in the middle of the hall for how long I can't say," he wrote in the report.

Police body camera video released by the department shows Hendrex, along with a rookie officer and three hotel security officers, waiting in the hallway of the 31st floor in the Mandalay Bay casino-resort for about five minutes before moving to a stairwell leading to the 32nd floor, where the gunman was raining bullets onto the crowd above.

They remained in the stairwell for at least 15 minutes, when the video clip ends.

A phone call to a publicly listed number for Hendrex was not answered Tuesday night.

Grammas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which first reported Hendrex's firing , that the union does not believe the officer should have been fired and is fighting to get him reinstated.

News of Hendrex's firing comes as a new lawsuit filed overnight blames gun manufacturers and dealers for the massacre. Among the victims who were killed was 31-year-old Carrie Parsons -- and only on "CBS This Morning," Parsons' parents explained why they're now suing the makers of the military-style rifles used in the attack and the dealers who sold them.

Ann-Marie Parsons said that the only reason it was possible for a shooter 32 stories up and hundreds of yards away to fire a fatal shot is "the power of these weapons."

"These are weapons of war&#8230;" Jim Parsons added. "So you don't have to be a marksman to shoot 300 or 600 yards. He didn't target anyone, he just mowed 'em down. They didn't have a chance."


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## LA Copper (Feb 11, 2005)

Totally agree with you; none of us (unless you've been there) know how we're going to react when the poop hits the fan, especially on a big incident like this.

That being said, my question is, what were the other officers who were with him doing at that same time? Was their plan to form a stick and go in together? Was it to wait for long guns to arrive? We here don't have enough info to make a judgement one way or the other.

if the other officers had a plan, were moving on it and then he froze, that's bad. If no one was willing to move, that's understandable, although the fact that he "was frozen with fear" is not a good thing. And if that's the case, why is this one guy the only guy who is fired? Too many unknowns here.


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## 38bigblock (Nov 22, 2015)

1.) You can’t expect someone to be suicidal and rush a door that has 10,000 rounds about to come out of it. “The fatal funnel”

2.) You can’t sit there and do nothing while 100s of people are getting killed.

3.) No matter what is done, expect half the country to hate the choice that’s made. So make damn sure it’s the choice that can be lived with the rest of your life.

I’m not saying a thing in their favor or against them. That’s because I’ve been blessed to not have been involved with an OIS. I hope I never have to be. No one wants to go to work and shoot someone.


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## PG1911 (Jul 12, 2011)

This whole situation stinks to high heaven. I'm not usually a tinfoil hatter, but this whole thing seems to be just another piece in a tangled web (not saying this cop was part of some conspiracy, but that laying blame at his feet is).


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## Bloodhound (May 20, 2010)

Bad day to be a cop, but that's the deal. Move to the threat and act. You're probably going to die, but at least he'll be busy trying to kill you, who has at least some chance of stopping him, than the innocent civilians below who have zero chance.


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## TheSnowman (Aug 29, 2017)

Draw fire by making it sound like you’re trying to breach the door. All you can really hope for is that his attention is on you instead of the people he’s firing on below. You don’t necessarily have to be the one that puts an end to him but at least keep him distracted long enough for the guys with bigger guns to arrive.


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## CCCSD (Jul 30, 2017)

He had cameras. He saw what was going on outside. Faking an entry wouldn’t distract him. Making an entry would.


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## TheSnowman (Aug 29, 2017)

CCCSD said:


> He had cameras. He saw what was going on outside. Faking an entry wouldn't distract him. Making an entry would.


If he's looking at a camera that shows the officers approaching the door then his attention is now on the approaching officers instead of the people below. I would think he would've changed positions and prepared for the officers if that happened. All of these actions take time away from him shooting at people that can't shoot back.


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## Bananaman (Apr 8, 2019)

TheSnowman said:


> If he's looking at a camera that shows the officers approaching the door then his attention is now on the approaching officers instead of the people below. I would think he would've changed positions and prepared for the officers if that happened. All of these actions take time away from him shooting at people that can't shoot back.


Agreed. Also, they didnt know at that time he had set up surveillance around his room.


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## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)

Bananaman said:


> Agreed. Also, they didnt know at that time he had set up surveillance around his room.


They also didn't know if he was alone, or maybe he had 19 other friends if you know what I mean.


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## CCCSD (Jul 30, 2017)

TheSnowman said:


> If he's looking at a camera that shows the officers approaching the door then his attention is now on the approaching officers instead of the people below. I would think he would've changed positions and prepared for the officers if that happened. All of these actions take time away from him shooting at people that can't shoot back.


It actually didn't matter to him. He looked and kept firing.


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## AB7 (Feb 12, 2019)

Run in and die. That’s the right answer. A police officer isn’t allowed to be human.


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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

This is it ?
Still no serious info on the shooter , but go after officer because he froze hearing what sounded like automatic gunfire.

Ban guns but don't question media blackout on the bad guy ?

As far as the officers response ?

We all need more training.

Give officers the tools they need .


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## MPD703 (Sep 25, 2004)

I don't get it. What was he fired for? So he is on the floor below the shooter for 5 mins with a rookie, an armed hotel security officer and maybe some other unarmed hotel security. He then moves into the stairwell, with the others and moves up to 32 where the shooter is. If he is on the opposite side of the building hiding ok I get it but if he was moving toward the threat and was just stuck due to the secured door and proximity to the shooters room it seems wrong to me. If he uses time to try to get a handle on the situation and get the right resources in place that is a good thing. As far as the complaint that he was scared - who wouldn't be?


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## TheSnowman (Aug 29, 2017)

MPD703 said:


> I don't get it. What was he fired for? So he is on the floor below the shooter for 5 mins with a rookie, an armed hotel security officer and maybe some other unarmed hotel security. He then moves into the stairwell, with the others and moves up to 32 where the shooter is. If he is on the opposite side of the building hiding ok I get it but if he was moving toward the threat and was just stuck due to the secured door and proximity to the shooters room it seems wrong to me. If he uses time to try to get a handle on the situation and get the right resources in place that is a good thing. As far as the complaint that he was scared - who wouldn't be?


Writing down that you were scared in a report is irrelevant and unnecessary. He should've just said he was thinking about what to do next given the situation he was confronted with (a very difficult situation). Stick with the facts and leave personal emotion and feelings out of reports.

That being said I don't believe he should be fired. He was faced with a very difficult task that he was not equipped to handle training and equipment wise.


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## LA Copper (Feb 11, 2005)

As with most incidents like this, there's most likely more to this story than any of us know about.


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## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)

LA Copper said:


> As with most incidents like this, there's most likely more to this story than any of us know about.


If it quacks like a duck... but the department shouldn't use his actions during the worst mass shooting in US history as an excuse.


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## CCCSD (Jul 30, 2017)

There is MUCH more. We don’t have a lot of info on the shooter because he’s dead and DoD not leave a manifesto or tell anyone his plans. We won’t ever know what all went down unless it’s in the released reports.

Bottom line: Fail to take action, people die. This ain’t Mayberry. Cops are expected to Cowboy Up, not sit and wait.


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## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)




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## LA Copper (Feb 11, 2005)

I'm not sure what that video is supposed to be showing. Everyone in this video appears to be doing the same thing, whether it be moving or not moving.


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## Bananaman (Apr 8, 2019)

The manual says you're never supposed to enter an active shooting with a rookie cop? Who the hell wrote that manual?


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## mpd61 (Aug 7, 2002)

I can't speak to why he was fired, nor even want to consider his actions. I myself ain't no hero, but since 2002, EVERY training and exercise I have attended, has taught us YOU must respond and engage. Even ON SOME LEVEL, to get the bastard(s) down or at least distract them from taking more lives. 

This specific incident was an ANOMOLY, at least in the sense that ONE guy was so well prepared and equipped to do maximum damage. 
Again, this is why Mahhhtee and Willy are idiots for NOT letting BPD folks have long guns in EVERY Cruiser........


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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

It is amazing how politicians can suspend reality for their own political gains.
_
The rifle is a superior tool. It allows the officer to either stand off from the threat 
or, if the situation requires, advance to the threat with the confidence that the tool in their 
hands can deal with almost any perceived threat. It has the power to deliver lethal 
terminal ballistics to the threat. It has a larger magazine capacity than our service pistol 
or shotgun.

_


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