More than 50 people were killed and hundreds were injured after a gunman opened fire on an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night a little after 10 p.m., Las Vegas Metro Police Department (LVMPD) confirmed in a press briefing early Monday morning.
According to Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, the gunman used an automatic weapon to fire at the crowd from the 32nd floor of a hotel as country singer Jason Aldean performed his set at the Route 91 Harvest festival at the Mandalay Bay Resort.
The New York Times reports that police also said that the shooter was killed on the scene and has been identified as a 64-year-old man — Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada. Police said he killed himself before they entered the room where they also found ten different rifles.
At this time there is in excess of 50 deceased and over 200 injured individuals.
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017Shooting UPDATE:
Sheriff Lombardo also confirmed via the LVMPD’s Facebook page that there was only one shooter at the one location and that police are looking for “an associate of the lone gunman (identified as Marilou Danley) for questioning.
Police also confirmed that at least two off-duty officers were killed on the scene and that two on-duty LVMPD officers were injured during the shooting: “One is in stable condition after surgery and the other sustained minor injuries,” they wrote on the LVMPD Twitter.
Concert attendees and performers have described a chaotic scene of hearing what sounded like “firecrackers,” the band playing on, before realizing it was gunfire. Performer Jake Owen told NBC News that he was standing near Aldean when the shots began and ran to take shelter in his bus where he said the sound of gunfire continued.
“It got faster and faster, almost like it was an automatic rifle. At that point, everyone on stage started running everywhere,” Owen said. “It wasn’t something that was quick. It was chaos for a pure seven to ten minutes.”
President Donald Trump took to Twitter early on Monday to offer “condolences and sympathies” to victims of the attack: “My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!”
My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017
Mandala Bay Resort, the venue, also tweeted out a statement thanking first responders and offering thoughts and prayers to those affected.
Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims of last night’s tragic events. We’re grateful for the immediate actions of our first responders. pic.twitter.com/Arf8edj1iZ
— Mandalay Bay Resort (@MandalayBay) October 2, 2017
Attendees at other events on the strip also reportedly said that several of their buildings were put on lockdown and the shows were stopped when they first heard the gunfire. Individuals who were evacuated into nearby buildings on the strip said, around 9 a.m. that they hadn’t recieved any information or direction on evacuation plans, according to the BBC and local journalists on Twitter.
Still no update on the new evacuation plan. We’ve been here for three hours. pic.twitter.com/g7N8G2pHrT
— Blake Apgar (@blakeapgar) October 2, 2017
This story will be updated as more develops.