Tragedy struck on Sunday night as a gunman opened fired on a crowd of 22,000 people at an outdoor country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. The rapid-fire barrage of bullets claimed the lives of over 58 people and injured more than 500 others in what is being described as the worst mass shooting in modern American history.
Country artists Jason Aldean and Jake Owen, both of whom have confirmed their safety, were in the middle of their performance when the audience heard what witnesses say sounded like fireworks. Only after the second round of gunfire did people begin to realize that they were hearing was gunshots. Chaos erupted as concertgoers, performers and band-members alike began to run for cover. Online videos of the attack show people pinned to the ground, screaming. Some can be heard instructing others to “Get down!” Witnesses report that hundreds of shots were fired in rapid succession. Owen reported that he could still hear gunshots from inside his tour bus, where he eventually found shelter. “It wasn’t something that was quick. It was chaos for a pure seven to ten minutes,” Owen said. The gunman has been identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada. Paddock checked into the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on September 28 and had an “excess of ten rifles” in his hotel room, according to police reports. He opened fire from his room on the 32nd floor of the high-rise hotel. Paddock was found dead in his room by police who believe that he took his own life. A motive has yet to be formally established. Police believe that he acted on his own and have not identified the mass shooting as an act of terrorism. “My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!” President Trump tweeted early Monday morning. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has reported that the White House is “monitoring the situation closely,” but that Trump’s planned Tuesday visit to Puerto Rico is still set to occur. This massacre comes just over a year after the 2016 mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, when 29-year-old Omar Mateen opened fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub, wounding 58 people and killing 49. Yasmine Palmer Referenced sources: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/las-vegas-shooting/las-vegas-police-investigating-shooting-mandalay-bay-n806461 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/10/02/police-shut-down-part-of-las-vegas-strip-due-to-shooting/?utm_term=.e170ed9482cb http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/politics/nevada-dean-heller-brian-sandoval/index.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/10/02/police-shut-down-part-of-las-vegas-strip-due-to-shooting/?utm_term=.c4e7d6608d18 Photo source: https://abrilclaudia.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/gettyimages-856536570.jpg?quality=85&strip=info
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