Shooting in las vegas october. The bloodiest mass murder: what is known about the tragedy in Las Vegas
64-year-old Stephen Paddock staged a shooting in the south of Las Vegas at the Route 91 music festival. 59 people were killed and more than 500 were injured.
What happened
An unidentified man opened fire at a casino in the south of Las Vegas. It hosts the Route 91 Country Music Festival. The shooting came from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. It is located across the street from the festival site.
The wife of the security guard of the Coyote Ugly Saloon bar, Rosana Lopez, told RBC that most of the casinos and bars in the city were evacuated. “People are not leaving their homes, those who have been evacuated are trying to stay away from the Mandalay Bay casino,” Lopez added. According to her, those who are in cars help the rest to leave the scene of the shooting.
Shooting in Las Vegas. People fleeing (video from the Mandalay Bay hotel) pic.twitter.com/hs98J5uK6T
“Tonight was terrible. I still don't know what to say, but I wanted everyone to know that me and my team are safe. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who have experienced what happened. It breaks my heart to think about what a tragedy happened to people who gathered just to have fun in the evening, ”singer Jason Aldin wrote on his Instagram page, speaking at the moment when the shooting of people began.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZvRZnogBrI/?taken-by=jasonaldean
McCarran International Airport is located near the hotel and the festival site. All flights at the airport are currently suspended. Airport departures and flight arrivals temporarily suspended due to reports of shooting in Las Vegas says in a message from the administration.
What is known about the arrow
It is known that the shooter was a local resident, according to Sky News, he lived in the town of Mesquite, 80 km northeast of Las Vegas. He was 64 years old, his name is Stephen Paddock. Local police, according to the Desert Valley Times, said the man was never on the police's radar. However, according to CNN, Paddock's police file lists "minor offenses" committed in Las Vegas.
According to Business Insider, the killer's father turned out to be one of the most dangerous criminals in the United States. He robbed banks and stole cars, the doctors recognized him as a psychopath with suicidal tendencies. He died several years ago.
According to Heavy.com, Paddock sued a Las Vegas casino in 2012, but the lawsuit was dismissed in 2014.
Paddock was checked into the hotel where he was later found dead, along with an Asian woman named Marilou Danley. Two cars were put on the wanted list - Chrysler Pacifica and Hyundai Tucson. On them, presumably, a woman could hide. 23 firearms were found in a hotel room. There are 19 more units in Paddock's house. In addition, the police found several hundred rounds of ammunition and explosives.
The police were able to locate the vehicles and locate the woman. The police interrogated her and revealed that she was not involved in the shooting.
Marylou Danley (Photo: @LVMPD / Twitter)
Around 09:58 Moscow time police
Last update: 04.10.2017 at 06:19
Las Vegas news September 4th. Shooting in Las Vegas, breaking news: Law enforcement officers recovered a total of 47 firearms while investigating a shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada that killed 59 people. Kevin McMahill, deputy sheriff of the city, announced this on Tuesday, his speech was broadcast by CNN.
Earlier it was reported that 42 firearms were found. According to McMahill, the weapons were found in three different locations. Speaking at the same press conference, the representative of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco Control, Jill Schneider, specified that one of these places is the hotel room where Stephen Paddock fired from.
Schneider explained that the other two locations are in Mesquite and Verdi, Nevada, but did not provide further details. Earlier it was reported that in Mesquite there is a house where Paddock lived. According to Schneider, "weapons were acquired in Nevada, Utah, California and Texas." She pointed out that they were not talking about "handicraft" weapons.
Jill Schneider also reported that Paddock installed devices to increase the rate of fire by 12 weapons he had with him.
According to her, law enforcement agencies "found 12 weapons equipped with devices" that convert the firing of semi-automatic weapons into automatic ones. As Schneider explained, such devices are legal in the US, although relatively little known and not widely sold.
Earlier it was reported that the shooter had at least two such devices. This is a complex type of stock with a trigger, which, in a certain position, acts on the trigger mechanism of a semi-automatic weapon so that the shooter does not need to pull the trigger every time to make a shot. Such weapons can fire up to 800 bullets per minute.
59 people were killed, 527 were injured. Dozens of the injured are still in critical condition.
What is known about the mass shooting in Las Vegas
What happened
On September 28, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock checked into a hotel at the Mandalay Bay entertainment complex. According to police, he personally brought 16 firearms into a room on the 32nd floor.
On the night of October 2, he broke the window in his room with a hammer and opened fire on visitors to the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.
According to the latest data, 59 people became victims of the attack. The number of victims was 527 people.
According to media reports, he fired from a distance of almost 400 meters into the crowd for about 70 minutes before the special forces tried to storm his room. Before they arrived, Paddock committed suicide.
Who is Stephen Paddock
Police searched Paddock's home and found 19 weapons, ammunition and explosives.
Stephen's brother Eric expressed bewilderment at the presence of a relative of automatic weapons and noted that he "did not have a military background and the like."
Neighbors speak positively about him, the local police have not previously noticed him in committing major offenses.
What was his motive
Preliminary results of the investigation point to the work of a lone criminal, but the motives of Stephen Paddock are still unknown. The American authorities stated that there was no information about his connection with international terrorist groups (the terrorist organization Islamic State, banned in the Russian Federation, claimed responsibility for the incident earlier).
The offender's brother claims that he did not tell his relatives about his intentions.
In connection with the incident, the authorities intend to interview his girlfriend Marilu Danley, who, according to the latest information, is now in Tokyo.
What's going on now
Donald Trump called the incident an act of absolute evil. He announced his decision to make a trip to the site of the tragedy on October 4 to personally meet with the relatives of the victims and the police officers who first came to the aid of those who came under fire.
Non-profit organization United Blood Services announced the collection of donor blood. Also, a collection of donations for the needs of the relatives of the victims of the tragedy in the GoFundMe public fund was launched.
Shooting in Las Vegas, breaking news. Las Vegas Sheriff Clark Joseph Lombardo told the media at a press conference that Stephen Paddock installed surveillance cameras in his hotel room before opening fire. According to him, surveillance cameras were installed outside the room, inside it and in other places.
In addition, Stephen Paddock, who staged the massacre in Las Vegas, had what are called bump-stocks. These devices make it possible to fire in automatic mode, without making changes to the design of the weapon itself.
Thanks to this, the shooter can conduct unaimed fire at a high rate, comparable in density to burst fire.
Earlier it was reported that SWAT officers used explosives to demolish the door and break into the room. The sheriff explained the long search for the shooter by the need to make sure that there were no traps and the need to comply with the rules for the personal safety of guests and police officers.
A video has appeared on the web from a hotel room at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, from which 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on visitors to the Route 91 Harvest music festival.
Man who shot 50 people from hotel window turned out to be a resident of Nevada
America has seen a lot, but the events that took place in the gambling capital have already been called the bloodiest massacre in US history. An open-air country music festival in Las Vegas ended in tragedy. 64-year-old local resident by the guests of the concert from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino. As a result, according to preliminary police data, more than 50 people were killed and more than 400 were injured. Law enforcement officers shot the attacker on the spot. Apparently, he acted alone, but his motives are not yet clear.
Broken windows with dark curtains in the Mandalay Bay hotel room where the killer lived.
"Dead on the living, alive on the dead"
The three-day Route 91 Harvest Music Festival concluded on Sunday evening. At about 10:00 pm local time, when the last of the singers on the program was performing, gunshots rang out. The music stopped and the speaker ran off the stage. Some of the festival guests at first thought it was just fireworks, but, realizing what was happening, they began to lie down on the ground in an attempt to hide from bullets.
However, the shooter was in a clearly advantageous position. He sat in a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino, from the window of which the festival site was visible at a glance. He had an automatic weapon and an impressive supply of ammunition: judging by the pauses in the shooting, he reloaded the machine gun several times. In addition, the audience was very dense: according to the organizers, the festival site accommodated 40,000 people and all tickets were sold. People had to literally lay down on each other, panic and stampede began. Those who were close to the exit tried to run away.
“I think I heard from 100 to 130 shots, they sounded in bursts of ten,” one of the guests of the concert, Joe Pitzel, shared with CNN. “The shooting continued,” another witness Corinne Lomas told the TV channel, “people fell on each other, dead on the living, alive on the dead ...”
“The sounds were like breaking glass,” added Monique Deckerf, “Just as we thought it was over, we were safe, the shots rang out again.”
Journalist Storm Warren, who was on stage at the time of the attack, described what happened: “At first we thought it was pyrotechnics, and when the sounds did not stop, we realized what was happening. When it was finally over, I tried to help as many people as I could. So did the others. If there was a positive side to this, it was that everyone helped each other.”
Detachments of police were sent to the hotel immediately after the first shots were fired. But while they used explosives to break into a locked room on the 32nd floor of the building, the killer managed to shoot at least 50 people and injure more than 400, many of whom were in serious condition. Around midnight, law enforcement officers reported that the shooter was dead.
"He was just a guy"
Judging by the documents found with the murdered man, he turned out to be 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of the town of Mesquite in the state of Nevada (Las Vegas is located in the same state). Local sheriff Joseph Lombardo described him as a "lone wolf", pointing out that he apparently had no accomplices. It was probably for these reasons that the police did not investigate the massacre in Las Vegas as a terrorist act. However, on Monday, information appeared on the Internet that the Islamic State (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) claimed responsibility for the shooting in Nevada, claiming that Paddock was allegedly its "soldier". However, the veracity of these claims needs to be seriously tested.
Traveling with Paddock was his girlfriend, 62-year-old Marilu Danley (described in the search materials as a woman of Asian origin), whom the police found almost immediately after the tragedy. Initially, it was assumed that she would help shed light on the motives of the killer, but after talking with the detainee, law enforcement officers concluded that she was not a "person of interest." Sheriff Lombardo also emphasized that Paddock is not connected to any terrorist group: "Right now we believe that it was a lone wolf-style soloist."
The killer lived at the Mandalay Bay Hotel as a guest (he entered the hotel on September 28), and in his room, from which the shooting was carried out, they found a cache of cartridges, eight guns and several long rifles. The Mesquite police department revealed that Steven Paddock had not previously been on the radar of law enforcement. His place of residence has already been established, and law enforcement officers are planning to conduct a search there (the media indicate that the man worked as a manager in the apartment complex where he lived). Also, the police will have to find out how the killer brought such an impressive arsenal of weapons into the hotel room and where he kept them.
The brother of the Las Vegas shooter, Eric Paddock, says there was absolutely nothing to indicate that Stephen would dare to commit a crime. According to him, Stephen had neither political nor religious pronounced predilections: "He was just a guy."
“I was hurt in the heart by what happened”
Among the dead were two police officers who were off duty at the time of the tragedy. Doctors at the Southern Nevada Medical Center, where most of the victims were taken, report that many of the wounded are in critical condition.
Law enforcement officers cordoned off the venue of the festival, and the owners of the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the killer sat down, closed the casino and evacuated the guests. Several flights that went to the Las Vegas airport were diverted to other air harbors. Due to an ongoing police investigation, airport officials said. In addition, the runways are not so far from the festival site, and some of the spectators ran out on them in a panic, trying to hide from the shooter.
Country music artist Jason Aldin, who was on stage when the shooting began, responded to the incident on social media. “Tonight was just terrifying,” he wrote on his page. - I still don't know what to say, but I just want to let everyone know that I and my team are safe. I was hurt to the very heart by what happened to those who just came to enjoy, as we then thought, a fun night.
“My deepest condolences and sympathy to the victims of the horrific attack in Las Vegas and their families. God bless you," US President Donald Trump tweeted. “The President was informed about the incident. We are closely monitoring the situation and offer our assistance to state and local authorities. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this tragedy,” said White House Press Secretary Sally Sanders.
World leaders also expressed their condolences. British Prime Minister Theresa May posted on her Twitter: "Thoughts from the United Kingdom with the victims of the horrific Las Vegas attack and the rescue services fighting the aftermath." "Australia today mourns with America after the shocking and senseless attack in Las Vegas," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joined her.
The tragedy in Las Vegas has already become the deadliest mass murder in modern US history. Until now, the shooting in a gay club in the city of Orlando, which claimed the lives of 49 people in 2015, was considered as such. But if at that time the killer was associated with Islamist terrorists, this time the shooter from Nevada seems to have been pushed to a terrible step by some completely different motives.
Weapons: the ban will not pass
There is no doubt that the tragedy in Las Vegas will once again - as it happens after another massacre - stir up the old disputes about the free circulation of weapons in the United States. And there is just as little doubt that the matter is unlikely to go further than talk. The current president, going to the polls, I remember, promised to abolish gun-free zones in schools.
Donald Trump's predecessor repeatedly tried to push through restrictions on the free circulation of weapons in the United States during his two presidential terms - but did not succeed much. In an interview, Obama called the failure of the fight against the gun lobby his main failure.
After the murder of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, President Obama vowed to crack down on semi-automatic weapons. But after a few months, it became obvious that lawmakers were not going to ban assault weapons.
Last January, Obama tearfully announced that he was imposing, by personal decree - bypassing Congress - new measures to tighten controls on the sale of firearms. And it was not about a total ban (the 44th President of the United States did not dare to threaten the constitutional right of Americans to possess weapons), but only about a more thorough verification of the identity of weapon buyers, including information about mental illness and the presence of offenses. But that was enough: Obama was immediately accused of exceeding his powers, and the federal government was accused of wanting to confiscate all weapons from the Americans in order to then introduce martial law in the country.
In turn, Barack Obama lashed out at the gun lobby in the face of the US National Rifle Association (NRA) - but this criticism was perceived by many as helpless. Lobbyists continue to insist on the right of Americans to arm themselves.
FROM THE MK DOSSIER: MASS MASSACRES IN THE USA
June 12, 2016- 29-year-old Afghan-American Omar Mateen opened fire with a firearm at the gay nightclub Pulse. As a result of the attack, 49 people died and 53 were injured. The attacker was shot dead by the police. The Islamic State (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) claimed responsibility for the incident. Until recently, the massacre in Orlando was considered the largest massacre in US history since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
December 2, 2015- A couple of Pakistani origin (28-year-old Syed Rizwan Farooq and 27-year-old Tashfin Malik) staged a massacre in San Bernardino (California) in the building of a center for people with disabilities. 16 people were killed (including both attackers) and more than 20 civilians and police officers were injured. The Islamic State (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) claimed responsibility for the attack.
December 14, 2012- In Connecticut, 20-year-old Adam Peter Lanza shot his mother at home, then went to a school where he killed 20 six- and seven-year-old children, as well as six adults. In total, 28 people became victims (the murderer also died). Why the crime was committed, and why Sandy Hook Elementary School was chosen for the attack, remained a mystery to the investigation.
July 20, 2012- in the Denver suburb of Aurora (Colorado) in the hall of the Century Aurora 16 Movie Theater in the mall at the premiere of Christopher Nolan's film "The Dark Knight Rises" about Batman, 24-year-old local resident James Holmes opened fire on the audience. 12 people became victims of the massacre. The shooter was detained by police near the cinema. James Holmes sentenced to life in prison.
April 16, 2007- in the city of Blacksburg (Virginia) at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, armed with two semi-automatic pistols, student Cho Seung-hee staged a massacre. 33 people were killed (27 students and 5 campus staff and the attacker himself), 25 were injured.
April 20, 1999- High school students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold staged a massacre at the Columbine School (Colorado). The victims of the massacre were 15 people (including both attackers). This tragedy sparked a heated debate in the United States about the need to tighten gun control.
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On October 1, 2017, the Route Country Music Festival was held in Las Vegas, which turned from a fun event into a bloodbath. Stephen Paddock. A man opened fire at the concert audience from his hotel room during a performance by musician Jason Aldin.
At a press conference broadcast by CNN on October 2, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo stated that 59 people were killed at the hands of the criminal, and another 527 were injured. It also became known that the attacker was preparing for the crime in advance. On September 28, he checked into the Mandalay Bay Hotel and checked into the 32nd floor. There, he independently carried 16 firearms, as well as a hammer, with which he broke the window glass in the room. Stephen Paddock did not wait for justice and committed suicide even before the police arrived.
The Route Country Music Festival shooting was called the worst mass murder in the United States in 16 years. And now the whole world empathizes with America. Blood donation centers are open in Las Vegas, and condolence posts are appearing on social networks.
"Warmest Condolences"
American actress and singer Paris Hilton wrote on her Twitter page: “I can’t believe what happened in Las Vegas! What is our world going to? My prayers go out to the victims and their families."
I can "t believe what just happened in Las Vegas! What is our world coming to?! My prayers go out to the victims & their families.
— Paris Hilton (@ParisHilton) October 2, 2017
One more American movie star Chloe Moretz — sent condolences to the victims of the tragedy and their families on Instagram. There, the girl wrote the following: “My heart is with all those affected by these horrific events that occurred in Las Vegas. Please stay safe. And all the Las Vegas cops who come under open fire are real heroes.”
Posted by Chloe Grace Moretz (@chloegmoretz) Oct 2, 2017 at 4:31 pm PDT
Twitter Ivanka Trump also did not remain without condolences. The daughter of the President of the United States wrote this: "America woke up this morning to the terrible news of the devastating mass shooting in Las Vegas."
1:2 America woke up this morning to the horrific news of a devastating mass shooting in Las Vegas.
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 2, 2017
And you Donald Trump wrote the following: “My warmest condolences and sympathy to the victims of the terrible shooting in Las Vegas and their families. Be healthy!"
My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017
But not only actors, musicians and politicians post their condolences on social networks. Ordinary people around the world also write on the Internet words of sympathy and support for the victims of the terrorist attack and their families, post images of burning candles on their pages.
This is what one Twitter user did. Andre Mesnil. He wrote, "All my thoughts and prayers go to the victims of Las Vegas."
All my thoughts and prayers goes out to the victims of Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS STRONG pic.twitter.com/DDeJ3FRaSq— Andre Mesnil (@zingo31) October 3, 2017
"The Mirage Disperses"
People do not understand how such a tragedy could happen. For many, Las Vegas was a dream city where there was only entertainment and fun, not murder and tragedy. He wrote about this on his Facebook page Yevsey Osinovsky.
“The tragedy in Las Vegas looks worse than anywhere else, because Vegas, this “miracle in the desert”, was created by the founding fathers - the heads of the mafia clans - as a “city without crime”. There, even simple theft or robbery was unthinkable until recently. I did not see a single policeman - neither on the streets, nor, even more so, inside the casino. And suddenly this... More than 50 people have already been killed. And it seems that the number is not final. The mirage is dissipating…” wrote Yevsey.
Blame the law
Writes about it political scientist Anton Khashchenko:"Las Vegas. Another tragedy, not least made possible by the free movement of firearms. 50 dead, over 406 injured. The largest mass shooting in US history. Do you think something will change? Will the free sale and possession of firearms be banned? No, the loot and the shortsightedness of certain individuals simply will not allow this to happen. Letting the genie out of the bottle and putting it back in is not the same thing.”
"I don't even feel sorry"
Among the users of social networks are those who do not feel sympathy for the victims of the tragedy for political reasons. This turned out to be CBS Senior Vice President Haley Geftman-Gold. On her Facebook page, she wrote that she did not feel pity and sympathy for the country festival attendees who died in the shooting, since they were most likely supporters of the Republican Party.
“I don’t even feel sorry, because country fans are, as a rule, Republicans with guns,” said Haley Geftman-Gold.
For such statements, the woman was fired from her job, and her comment on Facebook is currently unavailable, but screenshots with it are actively published by other users of social networks.
Which claimed so many lives in one evening that it’s scary to think - what is known about it? What were the motives of the man who fired at least 40 clips? What do eyewitnesses say?
The shooting in Las Vegas on the night of October 1-2, 2017 will be remembered as the bloodiest. Indeed, the tragedy in Vegas broke even the “anti-record” and other similar incidents that happen in the United States from time to time.
That evening, a Route 91 Harvest concert was held on the square between the Las Vegas airport and the hotel, Kommersant reports. The audience of the concert was about 10-20 thousand people. Suddenly, shots rang out - a real automatic burst; the music stopped. At first, no one could understand what was happening. Then people saw the first victims bleeding. Panic set in and people tried to flee. screams "Get down!" were heard from everywhere.
“We saw about 20 people who were lying on the street and bleeding. And that's when we realized that all this is for real, ”the eyewitnesses of the tragedy Robin and Matt Webb shared with the local media.
Meanwhile, the shooting did not stop, bullets sprayed the crowd. Later it will become known that the shooter, whose name has already been made public, fired 30-40 magazines in a row, which will amount to about 1000 bullets. This is reported by BBC Russian Service, citing eyewitness accounts told by local media. The preliminary result of the attacker's atrocities was 20 killed, but a little later the terrible truth surfaced - 50 victims in a few minutes. According to preliminary data, the shooting was carried out from a machine gun or machine gun.
The way the unknown man intensively shot the crowd is clearly audible on the video from the scene of the tragedy.:
After some time, the assault on the hotel began. The assailant sat on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino hotel.
“We entered the hotel as the police began to close the casino,” said another casual eyewitness, a hotel guest, Todd Price, “We tried to get into our rooms, but they turned off the elevators and began to take everyone out of the building”
As a result of the assault, it was liquidated, and the guests were evacuated. His name became known to the media - it turned out to be 64-year-old Stephen Paddock.
Local resident Abraham Lefi, who shared the location of the shooter in Twitter, clearly showed on the map exactly where the criminal was located:
When examining the hotel room, it turned out that Paddock was well prepared - a lot of weapons were found in the room. As Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters, it is not known whether Stephen Paddock was associated with radical views with any banned organizations:
We have no idea what he believed,” Lombardo said. “At this point, we believe the attacker was a loner.”
Perhaps Paddock's acquaintance, Marylou Denley, who was put on the wanted list immediately after the assault, could tell about the reasons that prompted Paddock to start a mass indiscriminate execution - orientations on Denley were published in