CrimeCon 2026

Part 1: On October 1, 2017, what began as a night of country music at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas turned into the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. From the 32nd Floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, gunfire rained down on thousands, ultimately leaving 60 people dead and hundreds more wounded. This year, CrimeCon is presenting 2 sessions that feature eyewitness accounts from the officials who ran toward the danger and investigated this tragic event.

In this powerful, first-ever 2-part session, Det. Kenneth Mead, SWAT Officer Levi Hancock and Officer Ashton Packe recount the evening of the attack, as gunfire erupted over the crowd. Officer Ashton Packe recounts the chaos on the ground, the confusion, the radio traffic and immediate realization that this was no ordinary call. SWAT Officer Levi Hancock will walk you through the tactical response and rapid deployment to the 32nd Floor of Mandalay Bay, where there were tense moments in the silent hallway outside Room 32-135 before explosive charges were prepped and deployed. Det. Kenneth Mead reveals decision-making under pressure and offers a minute-by-minute investigative look at the coordination and psychology into the investigation.

In this unprecedented second session on the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, we shift from the breach on October 1 to the aftermath. Det. Kenneth Mead provides an inside look at how law enforcement reconstructed one of the most complex crime scenes in American history, breaking down what investigators uncovered in the days and weeks that followed.

Officer Ashton Packe shares how officers processed the chaos in real time, while SWAT Officer Levi Hancock walks through how the tactical response unfolded. Det. Mead also explores how behavioral threat assessment and forensic psychology played a pivotal role in the effort to determine motive, including insight from interviews and the interrogation of the suspect’s girlfriend.

Together, the three officials confront the human toll of the tragedy — survival, resilience, trauma, and the lasting impact on first responders, the community, and the nation. This session is not only about what happened, but what changed in the areas of response, recovery, and prevention.

Two days. One city. One of the most pivotal moments in modern American history — examined through raw firsthand accounts, unflinching honesty, and hard-earned insight.

When a child goes missing, every second matters. But when a cult may be involved, the search for answers can take a far darker and more complex turn where secrecy, control and belief systems create obstacles investigators don’t typically face.
Join the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for a gripping, real-world case tied to the so-called “University of Cosmic Intelligence,” a group believed to be connected to the disappearance of two toddlers, Malaiyah Wickerson and Ashton Mitchell, and their mothers.
Moderated by Angeline Hartmann, NCMEC's Director of Communications, this powerful session brings you face-to-face with both sides of the search: the investigator working to unravel the case - Det. Sgt. George Ervin - and a grandmother - Cartisha Morgan - living the heartbreak and uncertainty every single day.
You’ll hear firsthand how the investigation is unfolding: navigating unpredictable behavior and pushing through layers of secrecy to get to the truth, while also understanding the very real human toll behind the headlines.
This is more than a case overview. It’s a rare, behind-the-scenes look at what happens when missing child investigations collide with fringe groups and complex ideologies. If you’re drawn to the cases that challenge everything investigators know and want to understand how the public can truly make a difference, this is a session you don’t want to miss. Awareness isn’t just important in a case like this; it can be the key to bringing these children home.

Join former Orange County, California Deputy District Attorney, now author and ABC News Contributor as he uses AI to bring a little-known case to ‘back to life’.  In August of 2006 1 man was killed and 4 wounded in a drive-by shooting in Costa Mesa, California. The case garnered little media attention, let alone a podcast or documentary about it, but Murphy was still tasked with prosecuting the shooter and get justice for the victim.  Using AI to generate images Matt has recreated the timeline, the suspect, the victim and their family to give this case the attention it deserves. 

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