MASSACRE IN VEGAS
58 KILLED, AT LEAST 515 INJURED IN WORST MASS SHOOTING IN US HISTORY AS GUNMAN ON 32ND FLOOR OF A HOTEL RAINS RAPID-FIRE BARRAGE ON OUTDOOR CONCERT, SENDING THOUSANDS FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES
Agunman perched on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel-casino unleashed a hail of bullets on an outdoor country music festival below, killing at least 58 people as tens of thousands of concertgoers screamed and ran for their lives, officials said yesterday. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.At least 515 other victims were taken to the hospital, authorities said.
Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) teams using explosives stormed the gunman’s hotel room and found he had killed himself, authorities said. The attacker, identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old retiree from Mesquite, Nevada, had as many as 10 guns with him, including rifles, officials said.
The US Country music star Jason Aldean was performing at the end of the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival in front of a crowd of more than 22,000 when the gunman opened fire from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street. The gunman had checked into the hotel room on Thursday, authorities said.
Two senior US officials said that there was no evidence that the shooter was tied to any international terrorist group after Daesh claimed responsibility for the shooting. There was reason to believe that Paddock had a history of psychological problems, officials said. Police found several weapons when they searched Paddock’s home, about 145km northeast of Las Vegas.
Paddock’s family was in shock. Eric Paddock told CBS News his brother was “not an avid gun guy at all. Where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that,” he said. The gunman often visited the city to gamble and take in concerts, his relatives said.
President Donald Trump said he would travel to Las Vegas tomorrow to meet with police, first responders and the families of victims. In remarks delivered from the White House, Trump called the shooting an act of “pure evil” while offering condolences to the families of those who were killed.
The UAE strongly condemned the shooting.
The preliminary death toll, which officials warned could rise further, eclipsed last year’s massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club by a gunman who pledged allegiance to Daesh.