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A Burst of Gunfire, a Pause, Then Carnage That Would Not Stop in Las Vegas A Burst of Gunfire, a Pause, Then Carnage in Las Vegas That Would Not Stop
(about 2 hours later)
LAS VEGAS — At first, it sounded like fireworks, and then the meaning of the loud, crackling noise began to spread, unevenly, through the huge crowd. LAS VEGAS — At first, it sounded like fireworks — a loud, crackling noise. Then the awful realization began to spread, unevenly, through the huge crowd.
It dawned on people when they heard screams, when they saw bloodied victims collapse around them, or when others stampeded for the exits, trampling some of the people in their way.It dawned on people when they heard screams, when they saw bloodied victims collapse around them, or when others stampeded for the exits, trampling some of the people in their way.
Many of the terrified people followed their instincts and crouched or lay flat, not realizing that they remained exposed to a gunman lodged high above them, while others surged into surrounding streets and buildings, leaving behind a litter of drink cups, cellphones, bags and shoes lost in the panic. Many of the terrified concertgoers followed their instincts and crouched or lay flat, not realizing that they remained exposed to a gunman lodged high above them. Others surged into surrounding streets and buildings, leaving behind debris lost in the panic — drink cups, shoes, and cellphones that kept ringing for hours, as relatives and friends tried to reach their loved ones and find out if they were safe.
By sunrise on Monday, the staggering toll at an outdoor country music festival on a cool desert night was becoming clear: at least 59 people died, the police said, and 527 were injured, either by gunfire or in the flight to safety. By sunrise on Monday, the staggering toll at an outdoor country music festival on a cool desert night was becoming clear: at least 59 people killed, the police said, and 527 injured, either by gunfire or in the flight to safety.
A lone gunman perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, had smashed the windows of his hotel suite with a hammer, taken aim at a crowd that the police said numbered 22,000 people, and committed one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. A lone gunman perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino had smashed the windows of his hotel suite with a hammer, taken aim at a crowd of 22,000 people, and committed one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. Late on Monday, law enforcement officials said they still had no idea what the motive was.
At least 20 rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were found in the suite, a law enforcement official said. Among the guns were AR-15-style assault rifles, another official said. The gunman had 17 firearms, including a handgun, in his suite, according to Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. And when the police searched the shooter’s house on Monday, “we retrieved in excess of 18 additional firearms, some explosives, and several thousand rounds of ammo,” Sheriff Lombardo said. He added that they also found ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer sometimes used in making bombs, in the gunman’s car.
The gunman had two rifles, outfitted with scopes, set up on tripods in front of two big windows, said the first official. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge details of the investigation. The sheriff said some rifles found in the hotel room may have been modified to make them fully automatic. Automatic rifles, which fire multiple rounds with a squeeze of a trigger, are highly regulated, and on videos posted online by witnesses, the rapid-fire sound indicated that at least one weapon was fully automatic.
The authorities did not immediately say what model of weapon or weapons the gunman fired, but on videos posted online by witnesses, the rapid-fire sound indicated that it was fully automatic, like a machine gun. Among the revelers below at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, Melissa Ayala, 41, said she first realized what was happening when a man near her fell to the ground with a bullet wound to his neck. “There was blood pouring everywhere,” she said.
Among the revelers below at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, Melissa Ayala, 41, said she first realized what was happening when a man near her fell to the ground, blood spurting from his neck. Ms. Ayala said she and four friends, who had come to the festival from California, were drinking and laughing when they heard the gunfire, which at first they thought was fireworks.
“It seemed like rapid fire,” she said. “There was blood pouring everywhere.” And then: “It was just total chaos,” she said. “People falling down and laying everywhere. We were trying to take cover and we had no idea where to go.”
She said she and four friends, who had come to the festival from California, were drinking and laughing when they heard the gunfire, which at first they thought was fireworks. The police identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, 64, a retiree with no significant criminal history, who liked to gamble and seemed to live a quiet life with his girlfriend in Mesquite, Nev., about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. He shot himself to death before the police reached his room.
“It was just total chaos,” she said. “People falling down and laying everywhere. We were trying to take cover and we had no idea where to go.” The Islamic State claimed on Monday that the gunman was “a soldier of the Islamic State,” but provided no evidence. The group has generally been accurate in claiming only violence carried out by those directed by ISIS or inspired by their ideology online. However, in recent months, the group has become more sloppy and has made at least two false claims, including for an attack on a casino in Manila and a bomb plot at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
Her friend, Shami Espinoza, 38, wiped away tears and said it seemed their only choices were “either run and get shot and die, or stay and get shot and die.” Aaron Rouse, the F.B.I. special agent in charge in Las Vegas, said that so far there was no proof that Mr. Paddock had links to any international terrorist organization.
The police identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, 64, a retiree with no significant criminal history, who liked to gamble and seemed to live a quiet life with his girlfriend in Mesquite, Nev. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said SWAT units swarmed into the hotel, starting on the 29th floor, going floor by floor and room by room, before finding the gunman in his room..
“We believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry,” the sheriff said.
Mr. Paddock was in a suite, number 32135, a hotel employee said, giving him sweeping views to the east and north.
Eric Paddock, a brother of Stephen Paddock who lives in Orlando, Fla., told CBS News that his brother was “not an avid gun guy at all,” adding, “if he had have killed my kids, I couldn’t be more dumbfounded.”
“The fact that he had those kind of weapons is just — where the hell did he get automatic weapons?” Eric Paddock asked.
“He has no military background or anything like that,” he added. “He’s a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite and drove down and gambled in Las Vegas.”
He said Stephen Paddock had recently texted him to ask how their mother was faring after Hurricane Irma.
The Islamic State terrorist group, through its news agency, Amaq, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that Mr. Paddock had converted to Islam months earlier, and had “responded to calls for targeting coalition countries” that are fighting the group in Syria and Iraq. That phrasing usually indicates that the attacker was inspired by the group, rather than directed by it, but such claims have not always proved accurate in the past.
Aaron Rouse, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Las Vegas, said, “We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group.”
The first reports of the shooting came at 10:08 p.m. local time. Officers were overheard on police radio channels reporting that they were pinned down by gunfire. Shortly before midnight, the Las Vegas police reported that “one suspect is down,” and soon after, the police said they did not believe there were any more active gunmen.
Speaking at the White House, President Trump called the shooting “an act of pure evil,” ordered flags flown at half-staff, and said he would travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday.Speaking at the White House, President Trump called the shooting “an act of pure evil,” ordered flags flown at half-staff, and said he would travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday.
“The F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security are working closely with local authorities to assist in the investigation,” Mr. Trump said, and he praised the performance of the Las Vegas police. “The speed with which they reacted was miraculous and prevented further loss of life.” On Capitol Hill, Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, sent a letter to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan calling for him to create a select committee on gun violence to “study and report back common sense legislation to help end this crisis.”
Video of the shooting captured nine seconds of rapid-fire, continuous bursts of fire, followed by 37 seconds of silence from the weapon and panicked screaming from the crowd. When the shooting began, the country music artist Jason Aldean continued singing “When She Says Baby” for a few seconds before realizing what was happening and taking cover. Previous mass shootings have not generally resulted in changes to federal gun laws. Asked at a news conference about whether the president, who has said that some mass shootings could be mitigated if victims had more liberty to buy guns, would now ask for changes to gun laws, his press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that “there will be, certainly, time for that policy discussion to take place, but that’s not the place that we’re in at this moment.”
Gunfire then erupted again in at least two more bursts, both shorter than the first. “I think one of the things that we don’t want to do is try to create laws that won’t stop these types of things from happening,” she added.
In the confusion after the shooting, the police also descended on the Ali Baba Restaurant, about a 10-minute drive from the Mandalay Bay, and they also investigated reports of a shooting at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino, not far from the concert ground. Last Thursday, officials said, Mr. Paddock checked into the gold-tinted, 43-story Mandalay Bay, near the Four Seasons Hotel and the Luxor Hotel & Casino at the southern end of the string of big hotels that line South Las Vegas Boulevard, the renowned Las Vegas Strip. He took Suite 32135, at the end of a hallway, giving him sweeping views to the east and north. He brought in more than 10 suitcases.
Jake Owen, a country singer who was on stage with Mr. Aldean when the shooting began, told CNN on Monday that it was like “shooting fish in a barrel from where he was.” Over the following three days, the Las Vegas Village and Festival Grounds, northeast of the Mandalay Bay, played host to the Route 91 Harvest Festival, featuring dozens of country music acts.
“This is not an exaggeration: This shooting was going on for at least 10 minutes,” he added. “It was nonstop.” It was after 10 p.m. Sunday, while Jason Aldean was on the festival stage singing “When She Says Baby,” that the first burst of gunfire hit the crowd. At 10:08, someone broadcast on a police radio channel, “we got shots fired — sounds like an automatic firearm,” and less than a minute later, “It’s coming from upstairs in the Mandalay Bay.”
Concertgoers described hearing round after round of gunfire. “Everyone was running, you could see people getting shot,” Gail Davis, one of the witnesses, said. “I’ve never been that scared in my life,” she added. “To have this happen, I can’t wrap my mind around it.” Video of the shooting captured nine seconds of continuous, rapid bursts of fire, followed by 37 seconds of silence from the weapon, as some in the crowd screamed in panic and others just looked around in confusion. Mr. Aldean kept singing for a few seconds before realizing what was happening and taking cover.
University Medical Center, which has Nevada’s only level 1 trauma center, took in 104 patients, arriving by ambulance and private cars, including four who died, and 12 who were in critical condition on Monday morning. “We had our first rush and it was nonstop,” said Danita Cohen, a hospital administrator. Gunfire then erupted again and again, in rapid-fire bursts.
Ordinarily, the trauma center would taken in eight to 10 traffic accident victims in a night. But the trauma teams regularly train for mass casualty events; the most recent session was led by an emergency responder from the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Jamey Eller, 66, said she and her friends hit the ground with the first fusillade, and then “the second round came and we started to belly-crawl.” As the shooting continued, they decided they had to get up and run.
Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican Hospital received 56 patients at its three campuses, including four who were in critical condition. Most had suffered gunshots, but others had been trampled while fleeing, or had been hurt climbing fences to escape the shooting. “We had no idea where we were going,” she said. “We just kept hearing shooting. It felt like they were following us.”
“No one has experienced patient volumes to this level,” said Jennifer Cooper, a hospital spokeswoman. Her sister, Cindy McAfee, 56, called her husband, Steve McAfee, who had stayed back in their hotel room — on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, where the gunman was. “He was looking down and seeing what was going on and said, ‘Just get out of there — he’s not in the venue, he’s here,’ ” Ms. McAfee said. “It was absolutely the most scared I’ve been in my entire life.”
As survivors poured into streets and buildings surrounding the concert site, and the police and paramedics streamed into the scene, unsure how many gunmen there were, the massacre shut down roads and highways; the police reported closing off about a mile of Las Vegas Boulevard and asked the public to steer clear of the area. Hours later, much of the city remained at shut down. Almost nine minutes after the shooting began, an officer radioed, “We’re still taking gunfire, we’re pinned down.” Seconds later, an officer broadcast: “We need to snuff the shooter before there are more victims. Anybody have eyes on him?”
McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, just east of the Mandalay, said that some flights destined for the airport were diverted because of police activity, and some of the people fleeing the scene ran to the airport, disrupting operations there. Some survivors reported trying to climb the chain-link, barbed wire-topped security fence around the airport, until firefighters ripped the fence up from the ground, allowing them to crawl under it. Some survivors tried to climb the chain-link fence topped with barbed wire around the nearby McCarran International Airport, until firefighters ripped the fence up from the ground, allowing them to crawl under it.
Krystal Legette, who was visiting from New York, and several other people were at Sundance Helicopters office at the airport, waiting for a sightseeing flight around the city, when she said three women burst into the building, screaming, “They’re shooting, they’re shooting.” Then another woman came in, bleeding from a bullet wound in her right arm, and Ms. Legette, a nurse, and three others applied a tourniquet. Krystal Legette, who was visiting from New York, and several other people were at the Sundance Helicopters office at the airport, waiting for a sightseeing flight around the city, when she said three women burst into the building, screaming, “They’re shooting, they’re shooting.” Then another woman came in, bleeding from a bullet wound in her right arm, and Ms. Legette, a nurse, and three others applied a tourniquet.
More and more people ran into the office, until about 100 people had taken shelter there, she said. A company worker turned out the lights, locked the doors and told everyone to go inside closets and other areas away from the windows. More and more people ran into the office, until about 100 had taken shelter there, she said. A company worker turned out the lights, locked the doors and told everyone to go inside closets and other areas away from the windows.
The hotel itself was placed on virtual lockdown after the shooting, guests said. Ambulances arrived at the festival grounds quickly, but were overwhelmed by the number of casualties. Their radio frequencies were so clogged that some paramedics used their cellphones instead to call ahead to hospital emergency rooms. Victims arrived at hospitals in cars and the backs of pickup trucks.
“We went into the hotel and they started shutting down casinos,” Todd Price, a guest of Mandalay Bay, told CNN. “We tried to get into our rooms, and they shut down the elevators and started to get everybody out.” “It was a wide range of injuries, from gunshots to shrapnel wounds, to trample injuries, to people trying to jump fences,” said Greg Cassell, chief of the Clark County Fire Department.
The Route 91 Harvest Festival bills itself as “three days of country music on the Vegas Strip,” and Sunday night’s performance was the last of the festival. The site of the concert, the Las Vegas Village and Festival Grounds, run by MGM Resorts, sprawls over 15 acres and has a capacity of 40,000 people. The festival’s website said this year’s three-day concert was sold out. As survivors poured into streets and buildings surrounding the concert site, the police swarmed the Mandalay Bay, conducting a floor-by-floor, room-by-room search starting on the 29th floor and working their way up, Sheriff Lombardo said. At one point, he said, Mr. Paddock fired at them through the door of his suite, wounding a hotel security guard in the leg. The officers backed off, he said, and then SWAT teams went in.
In the first hours after the shooting, the police searched for a woman described as “a companion” of the gunman, Marilou Danley. Later, the sheriff said she had been located out of the country, and apparently was not with Mr. Paddock when he checked into the hotel, but that “he was utilizing some of her identification.” The police also searched for Mr. Paddock’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, thinking that she might have been with him, in part because he had been gambling using a Players Club Card, a kind of casino debit card, that was issued in her name. Later, the sheriff said, it was determined that Ms. Danley, who has worked in casinos in the past, had been out of the country at the time of the shooting. The police later searched the couple’s home in Mesquite and another house Mr. Paddock owned in northern Nevada.
Eric Paddock identified Ms. Danley as his brother’s girlfriend. “We were worried that he might have hurt her, too,” he said. Hours after the shooting, as guests returned to the Mandalay Bay to retrieve their luggage, those who had been at the concert were still in shock.
Ms. Ayala and her friends from California described how they had run for several minutes, reaching the top of the MGM Grand parking lot, where they continued to see the chaos on the Strip below. They called their children, worried that it would be the last time they spoke.
They flagged down a driver who agreed to take them to a friend’s timeshare, far off the Strip.
“It wasn’t until we got there and locked the door behind us that we felt safe,” Ms. Ayala said. “That was the first time I really breathed.”