An engineer at the Mandalay Bay hotel who dodged rounds in the hallway as Stephen Paddock began the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history spoke out for the first time Wednesday, saying he is "incredibly blessed" to escape alive.
Engineer Stephen Schuck spoke to the "Today" show in an exclusive interview Wednesday morning, more than a week after the Paddock killed 58 people at a country music festival by firing from a elevated hotel-room window.
Schuck said he was on a higher floor when he was called to check on a fire exit door that would not open on the 32nd floor. All was initially quiet on the floor, Schuck said, but then the shooting started.
Another hotel worker, Jesus Campos, who was also in the hallway on the 32nd floor, yelled at Schuck to take cover as the Paddock began shooting down the hallway. "As soon as I started to go to a door to my left, the rounds started coming down the hallway," Schuck said. "I could feel them pass right behind my head."
Schuck said he saw that Campos was shot in the leg, but waited to come to his aid because Paddock was still firing down the hallway.
"It was kind of relentless," he said.
Shuck and Campos eventually fled down the hallway away from the shooter's room when their was a break in the firing, he said. Schuck shut off all the guest elevators with a master key and tried warned them about the situation on the 32nd floor. He and Campos also directed police to where the shooting was happening after they responded, he said.
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Shuck said he credits Campos with saving his life because he was able to warn him about the shots just in time.
"I owe him my life," he said.
But despite the near-death experience, Schuck said he intends to go back to work.
"I'm going to go back to work," he said. "I like my career; I'm not going to let that define me."
