Right Now The authorities say the gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, is dead.
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More than 50 people died and 400 others were injured in a shooting at
an outdoor concert near the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas,
the police said. It was one of the deadliest mass shootings in United States history.
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The police said that officers found Mr. Paddock dead in his room in the
Mandalay Bay Hotel. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said he was believed to be
the only assailant.
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Automatic gunfire can be heard in videos from the grounds of the
concert, a country music event known as the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
Concertgoers ran and ducked for cover, and thousands of people fled.
The police say the gunman is dead.
Sheriff
Lombardo described Mr. Paddock as a “local resident,” but said that his
background was largely a mystery and that his motive was unknown. He
predicted “a long and tedious investigation.”
The
police said that Mr. Paddock opened fire on the crowd from a hotel room
on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel on Sunday night. The Las
Vegas Police Department SWAT team found him dead.
“As
far as his history and background, we haven’t completed that part of
the investigation yet,” Sheriff Lombardo said of the suspect. “But we
located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied.”
“You could see people getting shot”
The
gunfire began during a performance by the singer Jason Aldean, the
closing act of the Route 91 Harvest Festival, according to Gail Davis,
who was in the audience of more than 22,000.
The
scene erupted into chaos as thousands of people began to panic.
“Everyone was running,” she said. “You could see people getting shot.”
She
said a police officer had guided her and her husband to safety as
gunshots ricocheted around them. As they ran, Ms. Davis heard a voice on
the officer’s radio say the words “active shooters.”
“I’ve never been that scared in my life,” she said. “To have this happen, I can’t wrap my mind around it.”
Ms.
Davis said many children were attending the concert. Amid the
confusion, she heard one woman scream, “I can’t find my daughter.”
One police officer has died.
The
police said in a statement that one off-duty Las Vegas police officer
was killed in the shooting. At a news conference earlier in the day,
Sheriff Lombardo had said that two off-duty officers were killed.
The name of the deceased officer has not been released because his family has not been notified, the police said.
Two
on-duty officers were injured in the shooting. One was in stable
condition; the other had what the police described as
“non-life-threatening wounds.”
Additionally,
an off-duty officer from Bakersfield, Calif., who was attending the
concert was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not believed
to be life-threatening.
Police locate gunman’s ‘companion.’
The
police said they were “confident but not 100 percent sure” that they
had located Marilou Danley, a woman they described as “a companion that
is traveling with” Mr. Paddock.
The
authorities have called her a “person of interest” and the shooter’s
“roommate.” The police also said they had located two cars whose license
plates were registered to Mr. Paddock.
Politicians offer thoughts and prayers.
President Trump responded to the shooting on Monday by tweeting his “warmest condolences” for the families of the victims.
Other
lawmakers woke up to the news and offered thoughts and prayers.
Governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada called the shooting a “heinous act of
violence.”
Senator
James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, referred to the shooting as
a “terror attack,” although as of 4:30 a.m. in Las Vegas, law
enforcement officials had not identified a motive for the gunman.— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) Oct. 2, 2017
The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of California, said she was “horrified and heartbroken” by the shooting.
Source: New York Times
Source: New York Times
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