Welsh Cavalry soldiers were first on scene in Vegas shooting
TROOPS from a Welsh regiment were among the first to help victims after the attack in Las Vegas, it has emerged.
Three soldiers from the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards, known as the Welsh Cavalry, were in Nevada for desert training.
They were off-duty when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock shot at people attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino, one of Las Vegas’ major casinos.
Army officials say they helped treat some of those who were injured before handing them over to the emergency services.
The Mirror reports a source said: “Due to their experience, the guys who heard the noise knew instantly it was gunfire.
“Their training immediately kicked in and they rushed to the festival to help.
“All soldiers in the cavalry are given medical training designed to preserve life on the battlefield.
“The injuries they were seeing were the ones they are well versed in treating.
At least 59 people have died and more than 500 were injured in the attack President Donald Trump called “an act of pure evil”.
An Army spokesperson said: “We can confirm that a number of serving personnel from 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards provided assistance to the wounded following the heinous shooting in Las Vegas.
“Our thoughts go out to those affected by this terrible act.”
The gunman responsible for the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history was the son of a bank robber once on the FBI’s most wanted list, according to his family, who said his involvement had struck them like an “asteroid”.
Brother Eric Paddock, speaking to CBS News, said he was “not an avid gun guy at all” with “no religious affiliation, no political affiliation”, or history of mental illness.
“We have no idea how this happened,” the 55-year-old who lives in Orlando, Florida, added to the Las Vegas ReviewJournal.
“It’s like an asteroid just fell on top of our family.”
He described his brother as a gambler who played slot machines and video poker on the Strip while living in retirement.
The brother also said that their father was bank robber Benjamin Hoskins Paddock who was on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list until 1977.
Described as an avid gambler, he spent nearly a decade as a fugitive after springing from a Texan prison in 1968, the Arizona Republic reported at the time.
An FBI poster described him as a “psychopath” who should be treated as “armed and very dangerous”.
Stephen Paddock lived in Mesquite, Nevada, 80 miles north east of Las Vegas, with 62-year-old Marilou Danley who had been his partner.
Guns and ammunition were found in a search of Paddock’s “nice, clean” home, a Mesquite Police spokesman said.
Paddock is believed to have killed himself before a police Swat team burst into his room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, where at least 10 “rifles” were found, Clark County sheriff Joseph Lombardo said.
“We have no investigative information or background associated with this individual that is derogatory,” he added.
The motive for the attack on the Route 91 Harvest Festival remains unclear, with FBI Special Agent Aaron Rouse saying Paddock had no connection to an international terrorist organisation.
Paddock’s former brother-in-law Scott Brunoehler also expressed his shock at his involvement, describing him as a fun-loving and smart guy.
“He seemed like a normal, good guy. I don’t remember anything bad back then at all,” the 62-year-old told the Los Angeles Times of the man married to his sister until the 1980s.
“I’m still in shock.”