By CNN Staff
At least 59 people were killed and more than 527 injured in the mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said.
Sunday night’s shooting is the deadliest in modern US history.
How the attack unfolded:
At about 10:08 p.m. local time Sunday, the Route 91 Harvest festival, a country music concert, was interrupted by the sound of gunfire, witnesses said.
(Country singer Jake Owen, who was on stage during the Las Vegas shooting, describes how events unfolded that have left at least 50 dead. Courtesy of CNN and YouTube)
Police said the gunman fired on the crowd of about 22,000 people from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, several hundred feet southwest of the concert grounds.
Country music singer Jason Aldean was performing when the gunshots began, according to witnesses’ cell phone video.
“The gunshots lasted for 10 to 15 minutes. It didn’t stop,” said witness Rachel de Kerf.
(WARNING: Graphic content. The shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, is being called the deadliest mass shooting in recent American history. Here is a look at other shooting sprees that killed dozens in the U.S. Courtesy of The Washington Post and YouTube)
The shooter:
Authorities identified the shooter as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada.
Police said officers “breached the hotel room” where the shooter was located and “found the suspect dead.”
Authorities believe he killed himself.
Police said they believe Paddock acted alone.
Paddock was a retired accountant, divorced with no known children.
Police served a search warrant on Paddock’s home Monday morning.
Authorities found weapons and ammunition but could not go into details, according the Mesquite Police Department.
An additional property in northern Nevada owned by the shooter will be searched soon, Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said at a news conference.
(More information is coming out about Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock. Courtesy of CBS Los Angeles and YouTube)
“We had no knowledge of this individual,” Lombardo said of Paddock.
“I don’t know how it could have been prevented.”
The shooter’s brother, Eric Paddock, told CNN: “He was my brother and it’s like an asteroid fell out of the sky.”
He said the last time he spoke to his brother was when Stephen texted asking how their mother was after they lost power for five days in a storm.
Eric Paddock said his brother had never shown violent tendencies, and had no affiliations with any terror or hate group.
Paddock says he’s still in the dark on why his brother would do this.
(The brother of Stephen Paddock, the Vegas Concert Shooter, spoke to the media on Monday morning after hearing that his brother was the accused suspect involved in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. Courtesy of ABC Action News and YouTube)
The FBI confirmed that Stephen Paddock’s father was a convicted bank robber who was previously on the FBI’s most wanted list, from June 10, 1969, until May 5, 1977.
Eric Paddock said his father died a few years ago.
The shooter had been at the Mandalay Bay hotel since September 28, authorities said.
Hotel employees had been in his room prior to the shooting and did not notice anything amiss, according to Lombardo.
Casualties:
At least 59 dead and more than 500 people taken to area hospitals, authorities said.
With hundreds still hospitalized, officials fear the death toll will rise.
They implored the community to donate blood, and throngs of donors have since lined up outside Las Vegas blood banks.
This is the deadliest shooting in modern US history.
The 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, previously was the deadliest, with 49 killed.
Sonny Melton, a registered nurse from Paris, Tennessee, was among those shot and killed, according to his place of employment, the Henry County Medical Center.
His wife, Heather Melton, an orthopedic surgeon, survived the shooting.
Other victims include a police records technician, a special education teacher, and a school office manager.
Sunrise Hospital, the closest hospital to the Strip, has treated 180 patients.
Of those, 14 patients have died.
University Medical Center of Southern Nevada received 104 patients.
Twelve were in critical condition as of Monday morning.
Dr. Jay Coates tells CNN, “We had as many as eight operating rooms running at the same time.”
Investigation:
(Country music singer Jason Aldean runs off stage when rapid-fire gun shots begin to erupt at a Las Vegas music festival. Las Vegas police say at least 50 people are dead. Courtesy of CNN and YouTube)
The FBI says they have determined no connection with an international terrorist group.
Authorities searched Paddock’s home in Mesquite on Monday and found at least 18 firearms, explosives, several thousand rounds of ammunition, and some electronic devices.
Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo says several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives, was found in Paddock’s car.
10 or more weapons were found in the hotel room, including multiple rifles, and some had scopes on them, authorities said.
Authorities say they are not calling this terrorism at this time.
“We have to establish what his motivation was first,” said Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, when asked why this event has not been labeled domestic terrorism.
The shooter had bought multiple firearms, several in California, a law enforcement official told CNN.
So far, investigators believe the firearms were purchased legally.
The suspicion, based on initial reports, is that any of the rifles used were altered in order to function as an automatic weapon, said the official.
Among the weapons found so far: a .223-caliber and a .308-caliber.
Reaction:
(President Trump addresses deadly Las Vegas shooting. Courtesy of PBS NewsHour and YouTube)
The Department of Homeland Security said there is no credible threat involving other public venues, but security could increase.
President Donald Trump described the shooting as an “act of pure evil” and said he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with families of the victims.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump led a moment of silence for Las Vegas from the White House on Monday afternoon.
The Orlando Police Department, which investigated the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, tweeted its condolences to those affected by the Las Vegas shooting.
Original post http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/us/las-vegas-shooting-what-we-know/index.html
Editor’s note: Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s of this tragic attack. Our gratitude is beyond measure for all of the concert goers, first responders, law enforcement officers and medical professionals who demonstrated such incredible bravery and heroism during this horrible incident in terminating the threat and giving aid to our fellow Americans.
God bless you all and know you will be in our hearts as you recover in mind and body.
