‘It was a horror show’: Mass shooting leaves at least 58 dead, 515 wounded on Las Vegas Strip

Las Vegas shooting at Mandalay Bay, video by The House of Peasants and CBS 2 News
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Information

Las Vegas Metro Police have set up a family reunion center at Metro Plaza, 400 S. Martin Luther King Blvd.

Families needing information on the welfare of loved ones should call 866-535-5654.

FBI: 800-CALL FBI (800-225-5534)

Facebook has set up a Crisis Alert page where people can mark themselves as safe.

Give blood
United Blood Services:
• 6930 W. Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, 89117
• 601 Whitney Ranch, #20, Henderson, 89014
University Medical Center: 1800 W. Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, 89102
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Story by Las Vegas Review
Written by Blake Apgar
Link includes video reports: https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/it-was-a-horror-show-mass-shooting-leaves-at-least-58-dead-515-wounded-on-las-vegas-strip/

A gunman opened fire on an outdoor country music concert from a Mandalay Bay hotel room late Sunday, killing at least 58 people, injuring more than 500 and sending the Las Vegas Strip into chaos.

The massacre is the deadliest mass shooting in United States history.



As officers entered the 32nd-floor room of the suspect, 64-year-old Mesquite resident Stephen Paddock, he shot and killed himself, police said early Monday.

Sheriff Joe Lombardo said officers found 10 rifles in the man’s room, where he checked in Thursday.

In a televised address to the nation Monday morning, President Donald Trump described the attack as “an act of pure evil.” He credited police for saving lives by locating the shooter quickly.

The White House announced that Trump would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Police initially named Marilou Danley as a person of interest associated with Paddock, but at about 5 a.m. released a statement saying they had interviewed her and do not believe she was involved in the shooting.

A law enforcement source said she has been out of the country for the past two weeks. Investigators were trying to arrange to get her to come to Las Vegas so they can talk to her further.

Investigators searched the home she shared with Paddock in Mesquite, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, after evacuating the neighbors. Police continued to look for a Hyundai Tucson with the Nevada license plate 114 B40.



An off-duty Las Vegas police officer attending the concert was among the victims killed, Lombardo said during a briefing.

Families seeking information on the welfare of loved ones should call 866-535-5654 or come to Metro headquarters on Martin Luther King Boulevard and Alta Drive. Reunification efforts will move to the Las Vegas Convention Center at around 1 p.m.

”It was like a war zone”

The attack came during the last performances on the final night of the three-day Route 91 country music festival, which has been held for the past four years on a 15-acre lot on Las Vegas Boulevard across from Mandalay Bay.

Gunfire from an automatic weapon rang out while Jason Aldean was onstage. Concertgoer Ivetta Saldana, who was there with a friend, said the shots sounded like fireworks.
She said she hid in a sewer.

“It was a horror show,” she said at the Town Square shopping center south of the Strip. “People were standing around, then they hit the floor.”

One responding officer was critically injured, and another had minor injuries, police said.

MGM Resorts International, which owns Mandalay Bay, released a statement early Monday from Jim Murren, the company’s chairman and CEO.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of last night’s shooting, their families and those still fighting for their lives,” Murren said. “We are working with law enforcement and will continue to do all we can to help all of those involved.”

More than 100 people were treated at University Medical Center alone.

“It was the most patients UMC has ever seen at one time,” said hospital spokeswoman Danita Cohen.

UMC trauma surgeon Jay Coates was one of eight trauma surgeons called in to treat the surge of patients Sunday night.

Coates said people came in with wounds to the head, chest, adomen, arms and legs. He said he saw one patient die from gunshot wound to the head.
“It was like a war zone,” he said. “Every bed in trauma bay was occupied. … People were lined up in hallways for procedues.”

False reports of other shooters

At one point police were investigating reports of active shooters at other Strip properties. Those reports turned out to be false.
Mandalay Bay, the MGM Grand and the Tropicana remained on lockdown until a little after 8 a.m., when security personnel lifted all restrictions on access to the resorts and allowed guests to return to their rooms. The 32nd floor at Mandalay Bay remained off limits.

Roads throughout the area, including I-15 and Las Vegas Boulevard, were shut down. The Metropolitan Police Department is asking people to avoid the south Strip.
Scores of victims were transported to hospitals across the valley. One off-duty police officer from Bakersfield was among the wounded.
The Los Angeles Fire Department announced on Twitter that two of its employees were struck by gunfire while attending the Route 91 festival. Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the mass shooting, but Aaron Rouse, special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office, told reporters that the shooter had no known connection to any international terrorist group.

Prominent Muslim organizations condemned the attack and the Islamic State’s “evil” attempt to exploit it. The Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Muslims nationwide to donate blood for the victims in Las Vegas.

‘It was relentless’

Matt and Robyn Webb from Orange County said they sheltered underneath their seats as burst after burst of gunfire rained down from the direction of Mandalay Bay.

“It just kept coming,” Robyn Webb said. “It was relentless.”

They eventually evacuated toward Reno Avenue, where they said they saw as many as 20 people lying in the street bleeding.
“That’s when we knew for sure it was real,” Matt Webb said.

They ended up at Hooters Hotel Casino, but then fled from there with the panicked crowd as more shots rang out.
“We thought we were safe,” Robyn said.

They ended up sitting together on a curb next to an empty lot on Tropicana Avenue just east of Koval Lane, trying to get news on their phones and collect themselves as wailing ambulances streamed to and from the scene.

They said they had no way to get back to their room and their two puppies, now on lockdown at the Delano.
Evacuees to Thomas & Mack

Throughout the early morning hours, several busloads of people were brought to the Thomas & Mack Center, many of them festival goers in cowboy boots.
They were offered water and restrooms as they waited to catch rides somewhere else or find out if they would be allowed back to their hotels.

First, though, each evacuee was patted down by police before being allowed inside the arena, which finally emptied out around 10 a.m.

A reporter on the scene at Mandalay Bay said people could be seen running from a casino entrance into the ground floor of the parking garage at the hotel.

FBI SWAT as well as SWAT units from Henderson, North Las Vegas and Las Vegas were called to the scene, according to police scanner traffic.

Scores of ambulances, a helicopter and police vehicles responded and victims were sent to University Medical Center and Sunrise Hospital Medical Center. Health care workers from around the valley were called into hospitals and to the scene. The wounded were moved in wheelbarrows and luggage carts.

More than 25 flights were diverted from McCarran International Airport starting at midnight as controllers reconfigured flight paths to keep airplanes from getting shot, according to airport spokeswoman Christine Crews.

The FBI in Las Vegas asked for those with images and videos from the scene to call 1-800-255-5324.

‘We couldn’t just sit at home’

Jessica Perez, 21, was in bed at home when she learned about the shooting. Less than an hour later, she had five multipacks of water in the trunk of her car and headed toward the Strip with her brother and cousin.

“We couldn’t just sit at home doing nothing,” the Las Vegas resident said. “Everyone was begging us please don’t go, but we couldn’t sit there.”
Perez said news reports led them to the staging area at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Sunset Road, where a large mix of reporters and civilians were camped out waiting for updates from Metro.

“We knew everyone would be coming here,” she said. “My heart hurts and I can’t believe this is happening in my home.”
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Read more: https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/it-was-a-horror-show-mass-shooting-leaves-at-least-58-dead-515-wounded-on-las-vegas-strip/