Gunman kills 50 in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS. — A gunman turned a Las Vegas concert into a killing field on Sunday night, murdering at least 50 people and injuring more than 200 others in the deadliest shooting in modern United States history. The suspect, who was killed, was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a local resident. Authorities also said they were “confident” Paddock’s roommate, Marilou Danley, had been located. Officials previously described Danley as a person of interest.
LAS VEGAS. - A gunman turned a Las Vegas concert into a killing field on Sunday night, murdering at least 50 people and injuring more than 200 others in the deadliest shooting in modern United States history.
The suspect, who was killed, was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a local resident. Authorities also said they were “confident” Paddock’s roommate, Marilou Danley, had been located. Officials previously described Danley as a person of interest.
Officials did not immediately reveal a motive. Authorities said one on-duty officer was in critical condition and another was wounded in the shooting. Two off-duty police officers attending the concert were killed.
The gunman, who fired down on the concert from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, was killed by police.
Authorities first received calls about an active shooting at about 10:08 p.m.
Country music star Jason Aldean was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival when the gunfire erupted.
Aldean was performing his last song of the night. Initially, those in attendance said they thought the sound was firecrackers. But as the shots continued, Aldean stopped singing and some concertgoers could be heard yelling to each other to get down.
One witness told KSVN that he heard “hundreds of shots.” The gunfire was rapid and reportedly confused with firecrackers. “It sounded like a machine gun,” one vendor told Fox News. “It sounded like more than one machine gun.” Authorities said law enforcement swarmed the hotel and killed the gunman in a room on the 32nd floor.
Some concertgoers stayed behind to offer help to those around them.
“Everybody I saw breathing, I helped.” a concert-goer told Fox News.
Kodiak Yazzi, 36, said the music stopped temporarily and started up again before another round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage.
As the 40,000 fans in the crowd began to flee, Yazzi took cover and said he saw flashes of light coming from the Mandalay Bay hotel tower high above. - Fox News/AP.