Las Vegas Attack Apparently Carried Out By Single Gunman, Shooting From A 32nd Floor Hotel Room Across The Street From An Outdoor Country Music Festival
Here’s what we can tell you about the overnight attack, based on information from multiple sources:
• The attack occurred at an outdoor music festival, during a performance by country music star Jason Aldean. About 30-40,000 people were at the event.
• The single shooter is dead. Law enforcement officials said just a few seconds ago that he may have shot himself.
• He is identified as Stephen Paddock, 64 years old. He lived in Mesquite, NV, about an hour’s drive from the site of the shooting.
• Paddock was inside a room at the Mandalay Bay hotel across the street from the venue, 32 floors up. Rifles were recovered from the room.
• Police say he had a female accomplice or companion who is now in custody.
• In addition to the more than 50 deaths, which include 2 police off-duty police officers, at least 200 people are seriously injured.
• Las Vegas’ airport, which is literally just feet from the concert venue, was closed during and after the attack. It reopened early this morning.
• President Trump, in a Tweet, expressed his sympathies:
• So far, there is no known motive for the shooting which happened just a few hours ago. The investigation continues. We point you to the following sites for updates: [The Guardian] [CNN] [Washington Post] [Las Vegas Review Journal]
Here’s some video of the moment the attack started from the Guardian, which is providing continuous live coverage with updates on the aftermath and investigation:
More video from the Washington Post:
From CNN, which shares this video, (which should auto-play if you click on this link) in which you can’t make out much, but is the most striking we’ve come across because the audio provides the starkest illustration of the incessant gunfire:
Some other photos (these are all from The Guardian):
We’re throwing out all the other content we had planned for today. We will catch you up on that and resume with the regular report tomorrow.