At Least 50 Dead, 200 Injured in Mass Shooting at Las Vegas Music Festival

At least 59 people were killed and more than 500 injured in a shooting on the Las Vegas strip [...]

By Kelsey Patterson

At least 59 people were killed and more than 500 injured in a shooting on the Las Vegas strip during a country music festival on Sunday night, making it the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history.

As singer Jason Aldean was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, 64-year-old local resident Stephen Paddock opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. A video of the attack shows the music being interrupted by the sound of automatic gunfire. The music stopped and concert attendees ducked and ran for cover, shouting "get down" and "stay down."

Video footage of the shooting, which was first reported to police at 10:08 p.m., showed nine seconds of rapid-fire shots, followed by 37 seconds of silence from the weapon amid panicked screaming. At least two more rounds were unleashed by the gunman before he ceased fire.

The police cleared out Mandalay Bay's 29th floor and worked their way up to the 32nd floor in search for the shooter.

Shortly before midnight, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported that "one suspect is down," and soon after police said they did not believe there were any other active gunmen. They are still searching for a woman, Marilou Danley who is believed to be Paddock's "companion," so they can interview her about the situation.

Concert attendees described the horror of the night's events at the conclusion of the three-day festival. "We were just at the concert there, and Jason Aldean was playing," one of the concertgoers, named Mike Cronk, 48, a retired teacher, told ABC News. "Kind of sounded like some fireworks going off. I think there was the first kind of volley, and then all of the sudden second volley. My buddy's like, 'I just got hit, you know.' He got hit three times. Then people started diving for the ground. And it just continued."

"It was pretty much chaotic," Cronk continued. "Lots of people got hit. ... It took a while to get him out. We had to get him over the fence and hiding under the stage for a while, you know, to be safe. And, finally, we had to move him because he had three chest wounds."

Cronk said they were finally able to track down an ambulance "and basically the one guy ended up dying in my arms because he was bleeding," he said. "And my buddy got in there. We got three more people in the ambulance." He said his friend sent him a message writing that he would be okay.

As flights into Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport were directed elsewhere and the one-mile Las Vegas strip was essentially shut down while police investigated and cleaned up the scene, the city's officials offered up messages of condolences and support for the city and its people.

"Pray for Las Vegas," Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman wrote via Twitter. "Thank you to all our first responders out there now."

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