Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, 50 people were killing and over 200 injured in what is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
According to CNN, Sunday night during a country music festival, 64 year old gunman Stephen Paddlock opened fire on the Las Vegas strip in Nevada. The gunman was killed by police officers.
NBC Reports:
More than 50 people were killed in the worst mass shooting in modern American history when a lone gunman opened fire into an outdoor country music festival from the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel on Sunday night, police said.
More than 200 people were injured as performer Jason Aldean was onstage, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said at a news conference.
The gunman was identified by law enforcement officials as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada
Police responded to reports of the shooting just after 10 p.m. (1 a.m. ET), and the suspect was fatally shot in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, officials said.
Authorities found several weapons in Paddock’s room after using explosives to enter, law enforcement officials reported. It was not immediately clear what kinds of weapons were found.
At least one off-duty Las Vegas police officer was shot, Lombardo said. Several other off-duty police officers are believed to be among the dead and injured.
Meghan Kearney described the chaotic scene.
“We heard what sounded like firecrackers going off. Then all of a sudden we heard what sounded like a machine gun. People started screaming that they were hit… When we started running out there were probably a couple hundred [people] on the ground,” she told MSNBC.
“People kept dropping and dropping. … People were getting shot one foot away from us,” she said. “People were trying to save their friends. There were gunshots everywhere. Helping them would’ve meant that we got shot, too.”
Police have located Paddock’s roommate, Marilou Danley, 62, Lombardo said. They also found two vehicles related to the investigation: a Hyundai Tuscon and a Chrysler Pacifica Touring, both with Nevada license plates.
Earlier, police shut down the area and urged the public to stay away. Flights in and out of the airport were temporarily halted.
Aldean, who was named the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year in April 2017, was on stage performing on the final night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest festival at the Las Vegas Village when the first shots rang out.
Aldean later said via Instagram that he and his band were safe.
Fellow concert performer Jake Owen said he was standing about 50 feet away from Aldean when the shots started.
“It got faster and faster, almost like it was an automatic rifle,” Owen said. “At that point, everyone on stage started running everywhere.”
Owen passed by people who were covered in blood and eventually found shelter in his bus. The gunfire still hadn’t stopped by the time he got there, he said.
“It wasn’t something that was quick. It was chaos for a pure seven to ten minutes,” he said.
Witnesses said that the first round of shots sounded like fireworks. Only after the second burst of gunfire did the band stop playing.
“After the second round… everybody hit the ground around us,” concert-goer Sean said on TODAY.
“It seemed like people were hit everywhere.”
Another concertgoer, Jon Bessette, described a scene of “pandemonium” as “the band ran off stage.”
“Everyone was running, people were getting trampled,” he said.
President Donald Trump sent his condolences in a tweet Monday morning.
“My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!” he wrote.
Vice President Mike Pence also tweeted about the “senseless violence.”
“The hearts & prayers of the American people are with you. You have our condolences and sympathies,” he wrote.
“To the courageous first responders, thank you for your acts of bravery,” he added.
Mandalay Bay tweeted out a statement that said, “Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims of last night’s tragic events. We’re grateful for the immediate actions of our first responders.”
Police urged families looking to locate missing loved ones to call 1-866-535-5654.
