Podcast Summary: The Tucker Carlson Show – "Ian Carroll on America’s Deadliest Mass Shooting and Unanswered Questions They Don’t Want You to Ask"
Date: January 2, 2026
Host: Tucker Carlson
Guest: Ian Carroll

Episode Overview

In this gripping episode, Tucker Carlson sits down with researcher and independent journalist Ian Carroll to discuss the 2017 Las Vegas shooting—still the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Carroll details widespread inconsistencies in the official narrative and exposes how crucial evidence was ignored, covered up, or dismissed by mainstream media and authorities. The discussion explores the many unanswered questions, citizen-driven investigations, and an intriguing theory connecting the shooting to high-stakes Saudi royal power struggles.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Las Vegas Shooting: Official Narrative vs. Public Evidence

• Official version: Stephen Paddock, an older, seemingly unremarkable man, allegedly carried out the massacre from his Mandalay Bay hotel suite, killing 60 and wounding over 400 before committing suicide, with no discernible motive.
• Public skepticism: Many details never lined up. Eyewitnesses reported multiple shooters, gunfire from different directions, and gunfire after the so-called "lone gunman" had supposedly killed himself.
• Rapid media silence: Carroll observes, "I think that most Americans have forgotten about the Las Vegas shooting because it just got poofed right out of the news after, like, a week, and they just never brought it up again, basically." (00:34)

2. Evidence Suppression, Disinformation, and Citizen Journalism

• Police withheld or fought release of basic reports, autopsies, and body cam footage.
• Journalists and survivors experienced censorship and intimidation; vocal survivors mysteriously died soon after the event.
• Crucial citizen-led projects, e.g., vegasshootingmap.com, compiled raw 911 audio, autopsies, police body cam videos, and mapped every significant report.

Notable quote:
"You immediately realize that this is not just Paddock…because how would I have this massive cluster of 911 calls coming from the Bellagio…an hour and more after Paddock has allegedly killed himself?" – Ian Carroll (21:56)

3. Discrepancies and Impossible Logistics

• Multiple locations: Body cams and 911 calls recorded active gunfire at casinos across the Strip, long after Paddock supposedly died.
• At the airport: Air traffic control audio records reports of an "active shooter on the runway" and instructions to "kill the lights" (12:23), with weird infrared footage showing armed groups on the runway.
• Mandalay Bay suite anomalies:
  • No broken window found on the first police entry (45:53).
  • Both suite doors bolted from the inside; log records indicate electronic tampering.
  • Paddock’s body found with suspicious blood patterns suggesting he died before the shooting.

"You can't bolt your side room from the other side while you're in a mass shooting spree and then wind up in your room and shoot yourself in the head. You can't do it." – Carroll (49:35)

4. On-the-Ground and Ballistics Evidence

• Numerous witnesses (including police) heard or saw fire from multiple locations, including helicopters.
• Autopsies indicated ground-level trajectories and, in some cases, bullets entering directly from above, supporting ground shooters or aerial gunfire theories.
• Loaded magazines and shell casings appeared in puzzling locations; AK magazines present, but no AK in the room.

5. Theory: Saudi Royal Feud & Attempted Assassination

• Theorists (John Cullen, Jason Goodman) developed a framework tying the timing, location, and gunfire patterns to an assassination attempt on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman or his relative, amidst a vicious Saudi power struggle.
• Circumstantial evidence:
  • The Four Seasons (top floors of Mandalay Bay) was partly owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
  • Massive Saudi military presence in the area weeks prior for Operation Red Dawn, bringing new stealth helicopters capable of high-precision attack.
  • Reports and flight data confirmed mysterious, unregistered helicopters in the air that night.
  • Bin Salman’s subsequent “Night of a Thousand Swords” crackdown on rivals and the timing of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder a year later.

Notable Quote:
"When you look at something so horrid as the Las Vegas shooting... that is like the definition of a terrorist attack. And so if you don't know anything about the incident, how do you even come up with a perpetrator that could ever bring themselves to do such a thing?" – Carroll (72:26)

6. Motives, Aftermath, and Geopolitical Impact

• The theory posits the festival massacre was a diversion linked to failed attempts to ignite fuel tanks or trigger chaos during a targeted assassination or extraction operation involving Saudi factions.
• Carroll and Carlson discuss the subsequent geopolitical realignment in U.S.–Saudi relations, suppressed surveillance footage, and the lack of official accountability.

7. Ongoing Suppression and Lack of Investigation

• Survivors’ concerns were buried, and federal agencies refused to provide clear answers or release key evidence.
• The story “just died” in the mainstream media.
• Carroll: "The only time I've ever had a... hostility from the police was in Las Vegas. And they tried to block us from our camera position, which was in a vacant lot." (127:14)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "There's no world where that's the shots that were taken. Some of the rifles he allegedly shot with didn't even have scopes on them." (28:38)
• "In the original video evidence, you can see the helicopters. In the original footage, you can hear the gunfire and know that it's not ARs with bump stocks. It's just not." (54:01)
• "To this day there's no one proven theory... But it's not the only theory. And it's far from proven, that's for sure." (129:48)
• "Whenever there's not an investigation, it's not because no one's interested... At what point it's just impossible to have, like, a functioning justice system because nobody believes anything." (131:07)

Highlighted Timestamps for Key Segments

• Official narrative & public skepticism: 00:10–01:44
• Body cam/911 discrepancies (multiple shooters): 7:00–13:00
• Airport and helicopters: 11:19–12:29, 98:45–109:00
• Citizen investigator resources: 17:00–23:00
• Hotel suite anomalies: 46:00–53:00
• Saudi theory explained: 67:00–82:00
• Geopolitical aftermath and motives: 110:51–117:00
• Reflections on suppression/lack of answers: 127:00–131:00

Final Thoughts

Carroll asserts that the official account of the Las Vegas shooting not only fails to address key facts, but is "transparently fraudulent." (54:01) Tucker Carlson, after reviewing the counter-evidence and testimony, concludes:
"I just didn't realize how absurd the story is. Like, it's absurd." (144:03)

Both agree the story’s suppression and lack of official answers degrades public trust and leaves justice for the victims unserved.

Resource Links and Further Reading

• vegasshootingmap.com – Interactive map of calls, autopsies, and evidence
• John Cullen, Mindy Robinson, Jason Goodman – Independent researchers referenced
• Key videos and flight data available via referenced citizen journalist channels

Summary prepared for those seeking to understand the complex realities behind the largest mass shooting in US history—and why critical questions about it remain unanswered.