At least 58 people were killed and more than 515 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.
• 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.
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.
• 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.
• “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 he knew of a couple of handguns and maybe one long rifle but did not know of any automatic weapons owned by Stephen Paddock.
• 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 58 dead and more than 515 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.
• 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:
• The FBI says they have determined no connection with an international terrorist group.
• 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.
• Police found 10 rifles inside Paddock’s hotel room, Lombardo said.
• 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:
• The Department of Homeland Security said there is no credible threat involving other public venues, but security could increase.
• President Donald Trump tweeted, “My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!” Trump said he will visit 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.
• From Germany, to the Vatican, to the UK, there has been an outpouring of support from world leaders.
