Panic as shots fired in Vegas
SURVIVORS LEFT SCRAMBLING Fake reports of shootings at other hotels circulate on Reddit and Twitter Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still don’t know what to say... It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night
JASON ALDEAN, Singer at whose concert shots were fired
Long after a gunman opened fire from the top story of the Mandalay Bay hotel on Sunday night, killing more than 50 people and injuring at least 200, people in dusty, blood-stained T-shirts and jeans were still jogging away from the scene.
Flashing red and blue lights from countless ambulances and police cars nearly outshone the casino towers on the Strip. At the Rebel gas station behind the MGM Grand hotel, survivors stood teary-eyed and shocked. Some made calls to their families. They wondered where they would go. Many had room in hotels now under lockdown, blockaded by law enforcement.
“The news said it all,” said Jackie Hoffing, her eyes glassy, still in a clear state of trauma. “We were there enjoying our time and it was very obvious it was gunfire coming down into the crowd.
“It was hysteria. There were people trampled. We jumped walls, climbed cars, ran for our lives. I’ve never run that hard or been that scared in my life.”
The two gold towers of the Mandalay Bay overlook the site where a country music concert was being staged. Jason Aldean was beginning his set when, from a room on the 32nd floor, the shooter opened fire.
“It sounded like something was wrong with the speakers,” said William Walker of Ontario, California. “Jason Aldean kept playing through three rounds of it. Then once he stopped everyone took it more seriously …
“I started kicking down fences to take shelter behind the buildings.”
It sounded like machine gun fire. Bullets hit concertgoers and sparked off the pavement. Hundreds ran. Others ducked or fell on top of one another.
Many said the gunshots sounded as though they were coming from different directions – and getting closer each time the shooter reloaded.
The streets between the concert grounds and the nearest medical centre were a non-stop convoy of ambulances and police.
Reports of gunmen and shootings at other hotels circulated on Reddit and Twitter, adding to the chaos and panic. Survivors kept emerging from apartment buildings, motels, parking garages and other emergency shelters. They had nowhere to go, since the Strip remained on lockdown.
Jackie Hoffing said: “We had stopped in the lobby and thought we were safe, but then they came in and said, ‘The suspect is here. Everybody has to run.’ It was another stampede.”
LAS VEGAS:
People are searched by police as they enter a hotel during the active shooter situation.