A gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, killing 50 people and injuring at least 200 others. According to the Los Angeles Times, the original death toll was 20, but the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police tweeted later that it was at least 50.
The suspect was 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, Nevada. He was firing at the crowd from a hotel room, LA Times reports, and Los Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo told LA Times that they believe he acted alone.
Paddock began firing at 10:08 p.m. from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, which was across the street. A SWAT team went in and killed Paddock, LA Times reports.Lombardo said that authorities executed a search warrant of Paddock’s hotel room and found several rifles in his room, according to LA Times. Police have also said that they identified a woman, Marilou Danley, who seems to live with Paddock and is believed to be traveling with him.
Lombardo also said that two off-duty police officers, who were attending the concert, may be among those dead.
President Donald Trump tweeted his “warmest condolences and sympathies” to victims and their families.
My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017
The injured were being treated at University Medical, according to spokeswoman Danita Cohen. Authorities shut down parts of the Strip after the shooting and were initially investigating a “suspicious device” down the street outside the Luxor Hotel, but LA Times reports that there appeared to be no explosive devices related to the incident.
Most victims were attending a three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival. Video posted on social media showed the open-air concert underway when “bursts of automatic gunfire rang out in rapid succession,” LA Times reports. The shooting went on for about 30 seconds. The music stopped, and then another burst was heard.
Seth Bayles, of West Hollywood, told LA Times that he though it was “bottle rockets going off” but then he “saw people dropping. We saw someone get hit and then we started running.”
Jason Aldead was in his fourth or fifth song of the night when the shooting began, he was the final act of the festival. He took to Instagram to communicate with fans and followers.
A post shared by Jason Aldean (@jasonaldean) on
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