Gunman Kills at Least 50 at Las Vegas Concert in Deadliest Mass Shooting in US History

By Tom Sykes, The Daily Beast

02 October 17

50 people are dead and over 400 are at hospitals after a gunman perched in a 32nd-floor hotel room opened fire on a crowd. It’s the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

ifty people have been killed in America’s deadliest mass shooting after a single gunman positioned on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel opened fire on a crowd of 22,000 music fans attending a country-music festival shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday night local time.

The late-night murder spree is now the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, surpassing the death toll of Orlando’s Pulse nightclub massacre, which killed 49 people in 2016.

Over 400 people were taken to local hospitals.

The suspected shooter, a man who lived locally, was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock by Joseph Lombardo, the sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

He had an arsenal of at least 10 rifles in the hotel room from which he launched his attack, police said in a briefing before sunrise Monday morning.

According to Deputy Sheriff Kevin McMahill, Paddock shot himself as police made entry to the hotel room he had occupied.

Paddock, who lived in a retirement community, had occupied the hotel room since Sept. 28.

Police also said that they had cleared of any involvement a woman earlier named as a person of interest. A spokesman said they had located Marilou Danley “out of the country,” adding, “We have had a conversation with her and we believe her at this time not to have been involved.”

She and Paddock had the same address. According to LinkedIn, Danley worked as a “Gambling & Casinos Professional” in Reno, Nevada.

Meanwhile, witnesses have been posting footage on social media of the horrific scenes that unfolded at Route 91 Harvest, a festival that was taking place across the street from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Shooting at Route 91

A post shared by Randy (girl) Kindred (@randy_kindred_girl_) on Oct 1, 2017 at 10:56pm PDT

Country star Jason Aldean was performing one of the festival’s final sets when automatic gunfire broke out.

Immediately after the shooting started, the band was rushed off the stage.

Insane.... this JUST happened. #PrayForVegas pic.twitter.com/RWgjFW7BHy

— Luke Broadlick (@LukeBroadlick) October 2, 2017

Aldean later said: “My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night.”

“People went down on the Mandalay side of the stage,” one concertgoer, Joe Pitzel, told CNN. “I don’t know if people were ducking or if people were hit.”

Eyewitness Bryan Heifner spoke to CNN from a room in a hotel across from the Mandalay Bay, which he said he could see from his window.

“Mostly I heard the shots, just so many shots—I just thought it was a semi braking with the air brakes, but then I went downstairs and saw people running and looking for family,” he said.

“I immediately went back to my room, locked the door, turned the lights off.”

A concertgoer told CNN affiliate KLAS: “Everybody’s hiding everywhere, they’re hiding under the bleachers and the stanchions, anywhere they could and everyone is telling us to ‘Run. Run as fast as you can.’”

Concertgoers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino across Las Vegas Boulevard.

Within minutes of the attack, witnesses posted video footage on social media of gunfire, and artists at the festival tweeted about hearing gunshots.

Las Vegas City Hall said it was a “very sad night for Las Vegas” and warned members of the public to stay away from the south end of the Vegas Strip, where the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino is located.

In a statement, police said that "approximately 406 people were transported to area hospitals and 50 are dead following Sunday evening’s shooting. Among the dead is an LVMPD officer who was off-duty at the time. His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. There were also two on-duty officers injured, one of whom was upgraded recently from critical to stable condition. The other sustained non-life threatening wounds.”

Police asked those wishing to help to donate blood. United Blood Services will start taking donations at 7 a.m. at two locations: 6930 W. Charleston in Las Vegas or 601 Whitney Ranch Drive in Henderson.

UMC will also be hosting a blood drive in conjunction with United Blood Services. It will be held at UMC’s Delta Point Building located at 901 N. Rancho Lane.