A rumour is spreading virally on social media that claims police arrested Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos, claiming he was a second shooter in the Las Vegas massacre.
A search for this rumour reveals that it originates from an article published on the website www.cnn-internationaledition.com. That article reads as follows –
Breaking News – Police Arrest Mandalay Security Guard Jesus Compos As Second Shooter In Las Vegas Massacre
(CNN) Breaking News – Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Compos has been arrested accused of being an accomplice and second shooter in the Las Vegas massacre that claimed the lives of 59 people and injured more than 500.
Jesus Campos had originally been praised for his apparent heroics on October 1st, as he supposedly rushed to Paddock’s suite, was shot in the upper thigh through the door, and continued to help get people to safety despite his wounds. However, FBI officials involved in the investigation now believe he was an accomplice of Paddock’s, and was involved in the initial shooting as a second gunman from the other broken window in Paddock’s 32nd-floor room.
However, the article is not true. This is an example of fake news. Despite the website – upon a cursory glance – appearing to belong to CNN, it doesn’t . CNN do not own the web domain cnn-internationaledition.com. In fact this website was only registered one day before it published this fake story, according to its public WHOIS information. This is the first time we’ve encountered this particular fake news website, though this is far from the first time that purveyors of fake news have registered websites designed to mimic reputable media outlets.
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Additionally, it is unlikely that a legitimate CNN article will misspell the name of Jesus Campos (it is spelled Compos in the article.)
According to reports, conservative radio host and author Mark R. Levin tweeted a link to the fake story before deleting it.
The website cnn-internationaledition.com appears to copy and paste a number of legitimate media articles onto its site in an effort to make the site appear legitimate, but mixes them with a number of fake news stories. The site does not seem to carry a disclaimer that says the site publishes fake news.
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Jesus Campos was the security guard who was shot in the leg moments prior to the shooter Stephen Paddock firing outside his hotel window to concert goers below. A popular conspiracy theory has emerged that claims the incident involved two shooters, something that authorities have vehemently denied.
This isn’t the first time the Internet has tried to name Campos as an accomplice – a 5th October 2017 article from notorious troll website GotNews.com named him an accomplice without providing any evidence.
As such, any real reports that Jesus Campos really had been arrested as a second shooter would immediately garner much mainstream media attention. However no reports exist, because this is an example of fake news.
As such we don’t recommend spreading this rumour any further.