ALERT: Las Vegas Shooting- At Least 50 Dead, 200-plus Injured (October 2, 2017)

Friday, October 2, 2017

Alert – Las Vegas Shooting: At Least 50 Dead, 200-plus Injured

All,

At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a shooting outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip during a music festival on Sunday night around 10 p.m. local time. Shots were being fired from the 32nd floor of the resort by a lone gunman before being killed during a standoff with police, authorities said. Reports say this is the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, surpassing the June 2016 shootings at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., where 49 people were killed. Police identified suspect Stephen Paddock, age 64.

According to the New York Times:

A gunman firing from a Las Vegas hotel rained a rapid-fire barrage on a huge outdoor concert festival on Sunday night, sending thousands of people fleeing until SWAT units found and killed him. More than 20 victims died, and more than 100 others were wounded, officials said.

Online video of the attack outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino showed the country singer Jason Aldean performing outside at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a three-day country music event, interrupted by the sound of automatic gunfire. The music stopped, and concertgoers ducked for cover. “Get down,” one shouted. “Stay down,” screamed another.

The Las Vegas Sun reports:

A gunman on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas Strip casino opened fire Sunday night on an outdoor music below, killing at least 20 people — including two off-duty police officers — and wounding more than 100, authorities said.

Officers confronted the suspect at Mandalay Bay, across the street from the concert grounds, and he was killed, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. Authorities did not release the suspect’s name but said he was a local resident.

Lombardo said police believe the shooting was a “lone wolf” attack but were looking for a roommate of the dead suspect for questioning. Police identified her as 62-year-old Marilou Danley.

They were also looking for two vehicles, a Hyundai Tucson with Nevada license plate 114B40 and a Chrysler Pacifica Touring with Nevada plates 79D401, police said.

Dozens of police vehicles swarmed the Strip after authorities received reports of an active shooter near the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of Mandalay Bay and the sound of what they described as automatic gun fire.

Witnesses said they saw multiple victims as they fled the concert venue. Some later huddled in the basement of the nearby Tropicana.

“All I heard was a lot of bang, bang, bang, and everybody hit the ground, and everybody started running,” said Patrick Martin, a Southern California resident, who was at the concert with his wife and son.

Twenty-six people were admitted to the hospital, University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said. Of those, at least two died, 12 were in critical condition and the rest were being evaluated, she said.

With at least 20 deaths, a total that could rise, the shooting is already among the worst in U.S. history. The most deadly occurred in June 2016 at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., where 49 people were killed.

Kodiak Yazzi, 36, said he and his girlfriend were watching Aldean’s performance when he heard what sounded like fireworks. The music stopped temporarily and started up again before another round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage.

Thousands fled as bursts of gunfire could be heard for more than five minutes, Yazzi said.

“We were all dancing, we were having a good time, all of a sudden I heard all of these shots,” said Candace LaRosa, 48, of Huntington Beach, Calif. She said that she thought it was a part of a fireworks show. “It was just mass, mass blood everywhere.”

According to CNN Live Updates:

Facebook has activated its safety check for “The violent incident in Las Vegas, Nevada.”

The social media site is providing updates on the situation and collating offers of help from local residents.

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