Gunman Kills 59 People and Injures 527 When He Opens Fire on a Packed Las Vegas Music Festival
October 2, 2017
Shooter opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel before committing suicide.
Via DailyMail.com:
WARNING: Graphic Video
America is reeling from the worst mass shooting in its history after 59 people were killed and 527 wounded at a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
The shooting broke out on the final night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest festival, a sold-out event attended by 22,000 and featuring top acts such as Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean.
Police say the shooter was 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, a resident of nearby Mesquite, Nevada, unloaded thousands of rounds on the festival taking place at Las Vegas Village from a room across the street in the Mandalay Bay Hotel at 10:08pm.
Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said that his officers breached Paddock's room on the 32nd floor and found Paddock dead inside, among an 'arsenal' of 10 firearms. Lombardo said that Paddock shot himself dead.
Investigators are now raiding Paddock's home in a retirement community in Mesquite, which he shared with a woman named Marilou Danley. Danley was initially called a person of interest in the shooting, but police no longer believe she was involved after contacting her early Monday morning and finding her out of the country. Police say it appears Paddock used her ID when he checked into his hotel on September 28.
NBC News reports that Paddock was going through a divorce at the time. Paddock's brother Eric described Marilou asa 'nice lady' who was his brother's girlfriend.
Investigations are still ongoing and police have not yet determined a motive. He was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Lombardo said.
However, ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the gunman was a recent convert to Islam. But several U.S. officials say there is no evidence to confirm that.
Paddock is retired and often visits Las Vegas to gamble, his brother told NBC News. Eric says police identified his brother through a wallet that was found on his body.
In an interview with DailyMail.com, Eric said that something must have happened to his brother to make him snap.
'He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something,' Eric said from his home in Orlando, Florida.
'We know absolutely nothing, this is just, we are dumbfounded.'
Eric said his brother wasn't religious, political or had any mental illness that he knows of. The last time he spoke with him was after Hurricane Maria, when Paddock called to check in on their 90-year-old mother.
'Our condolences to everyone,' Eric said. 'We just don't understand. It's like an asteroid just fell out of the sky and we have no reason, rhyme, rationale, excuse - there's just nothing.'
Media briefing with LVMPD Sheriff Lombardo on the shooting incident last night. https://t.co/3eUm4Ze30J
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017
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