It’s one of those records you hope you’re never going to see broken, but unfortunately the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida last year is no longer the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
That terrible honour now belongs to Las Vegas, with the official announcement that the death toll had passed 50 surpassing the 49 deaths in Orlando.
We showed you some of the harrowing video footage from the moment the gunshots started ringing out earlier HERE, but let’s run through everything we know thus far.
The Guardian below:
- At least 58 people have been killed and more than 200 injured [UPDATE: number now over 515 at 18:15] in the deadliest mass shooting in US history after a gunman fired on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival from a hotel overlooking the event in Las Vegas.
- Police have named the suspect as Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old local man. He was shot and killed on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino after a Swat team used a controlled explosion to enter his hotel room.
- Police named Paddock’s companion, Marilou Danley, as a person of interest. They are “confident but not 100% sure” that she has been located.
- Police found a number of rifles in Paddock’s hotel room. They said they will execute a search warrant at his house later on Monday.
- Concertgoers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay hotel and videos of the aftermath show hundreds of people fleeing in panic as the gunfire continued. About 40,000 people were attending the festival.
- US president Donald Trump has tweeted his condolences:
Here’s Las Vegas PD Sheriff Joe Lombardo talking at around 1:30PM our time with an update for the media:
Unfortunately many victims remain in critical condition, and as investigations continue the death toll is expected to rise.
[source:guardian]
