Police have reported there at least 59 dead and 527 injured after a gunman opened fire on the Las Vegas Boulevard at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and the surrounding area.
At the time a country music festival was being held on the Las Vegas strip.
Police said one suspect was “down”. The suspect has been identified as 64 year-old local resident Stephen Paddock. The police believe that he acted alone. However, the police were looking for Marilou Danley who was a companion of Stephen Paddock. She was described as an Asian female of approximately 4 feet eleven inches tall. After several hours Marilou Danley was located.
The police engaged the suspect in a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel hotel.
He was shot dead by officers in the hotel where a number of guns were found.
It is believed that a hotel security guard was gunned down by the shooter.
Sheriff Joe Lombardo described the shooting as a “lone wolf” attack. He said there was no information about Paddock’s motives.
The attack is the worst mass shooting in recent US history.
US President Donald Trump tweeted his “warmest condolences and sympathies” to the victims and their families, and called the shooting “terrible”.
Videos on social media show hundreds of people fleeing from the scene. The sound of what appears to be automatic gunfire can be heard in some clips.
Live footage from the scene showed a heavily armed police presence down the Las Vegas strip.
Las Vegas police have advised people to avoid the area.
According to police scanner reports, one police officer was possibly shot.
University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said the hospital is still evaluating the condition of “many patients” with gunshot wounds in the wake of the shooting.
The Route 91 country music festival was taking place at the Mandalay. The shooting took place as Jason Aldean, the American country music singer, performed on stage.
Video posted on social media showed a country artist mid-song when gunshots rang out in rapid succession. It went on about 10 seconds before the music stopped and concertgoers ducked for cover. “Get down,” one shouted. “Stay down,” screamed another.
Hundreds of people were seen fleeing the area.
Some people were taken to hospital in police cars and private cars rather than wait for ambulances.
Several roads in the area were being shut down and police were telling people in the area to barricade inside.
Flights were being held in and out of the airport.
Mandalay Bay is located on the south end of the Vegas strip on Las Vegas Boulevard and across from McCarran International Airport.
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