Las Vegas Shooting: Death Toll Hits 58, 515 Injured As Trump Orders Flags At Half-Mast
Las Vegas has been in a state of shock and fear after a gunman, named as 64-year-old Nevada resident Stephen Paddock, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel towards an open-air music festival attended by 22,000. and the city mourns at least 58 people have been killed and 515 injured in a mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert, United States.
He killed himself as police stormed the room where 10 guns were found. In an address from the White House, President Donald Trump described the attack as “pure evil”.
He praised the efforts of the emergency services, saying their “miraculous” speed saved lives, and announced he would be visiting Las Vegas on Wednesday.
BBC reports that the attack is the worst mass shooting in recent US history.
Paddock’s motives remain unclear. Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo described the shooting as a “lone wolf” attack.
“We have no idea what his belief system was,” he said.
So-called Islamic State later claimed to be behind the attack, saying that Paddock had converted to Islam some months ago.
But the group provided no evidence for this and has made unsubstantiated claims in the past.
The FBI says it has made no connection between the attack and any international terrorist group.
A police statement said the shooting began at 22:08 local time on Sunday (05:08 GMT on Monday). Paddock came from the small town of Mesquite, some 60 miles (100 km) north-east of Las Vegas, and had resided in the hotel since 28 September.
Police in Mesquite have searched his premises and recovered a number of weapons. But they say he had not crossed paths with the police in the past.
Las Vegas police say the number of people injured now stands at 515.
Among those killed was an off-duty police officer.
Earlier, police announced they were seeking a woman, Marilou Danley, in connection with the shooting.
In his latest update, Sheriff Lombardo said she had now been located outside the United States and was not thought to have played any role.
Marilou Danley is believed to have lived with Paddock, and Sheriff Lombardo said he used some of her identity documents to check in to the hotel.
