Urgent Tehillim requested for Chana Rochel bas Sarah who is in critical condition.
More than 50 people were killed and at least 200 others injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay hotel and resort on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said.
Police released the updated death toll in the early morning hours after a horrific night of violence that turned a concert into a scene of carnage. While initial reports put the death toll at 20, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police tweeted later that at least 50 were dead.
Police said the suspect, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, Nev., was killed after a SWAT team burst into the hotel room from which he was firing at the crowd.
“Right now we believe it’s a solo act, a lone wolf attacker,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. “We are pretty confident there is no longer a threat.”
Authorities said the gunman appeared to have begun firing at 10:08 p.m. from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel toward the concert venue across the street.
Officers entered the room and engaged the suspect. “He is dead, currently,” Lombardo said, adding that authorities have no evidence of a motive. “We don’t know what his belief system was at this time.”
Police said they have succeeded in locating a woman, identified as Marilou Danley, who was believed to be traveling with Paddock and is listed as living at his address in Mesquite, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. “We are confident we have located the female person of interest,” the department said on Twitter.
Authorities executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home and found several rifles in the suspect’s room, Lombardo said.
Mesquite Police officer Quinn Averett, a spokesman for the department, said about 10 Mesquite officers were at the home early Monday morning holding a perimeter.
Two of the dead may include a pair of off-duty police officers who were attending the concert, Lombardo said.
“A tragic and heinous act of violence has shaken the Nevada family,” Gov. Brian Sandoval said on Twitter. “Our prayers are with the victims and all affected by this act of cowardice.”
President Trump tweeted his “warmest condolences and sympathies” to the victims and their families.
University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said the hospital was treating “many patients” with gunshot wounds in the wake of the shooting. There were so many that citizens were arriving at the emergency room with gunshot victims loaded into their cars, local media reported.
A three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival performance was underway across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Mandalay Bay hotel when the shooting erupted. Concertgoers reported a burst of weapons fire as a Jason Aldean performance was underway.
Video: Shooting in Las Vegas
The shots appeared to be coming from an upper floor of the hotel, some witnesses said.
Video posted on social media showed the open-air concert fully underway when bursts of automatic gunfire rang out in rapid succession. Dozens of concertgoers dropped to the ground, screaming, while others ran, some in pairs or in groups with their arms linked.
The shooting went on for about more than 30 seconds before the music stopped, and another burst was heard later.
“Get down, stay down,” one woman shouted. “Let’s go,” another voice said. Another wave of gunshots followed soon after.
Seth Bayles, of West Hollywood, said Aldean had been performing for about 20 minutes when he heard shots.
“I thought it was like bottle rockets going off,” Bayles said. “Then we saw people dropping. We saw someone get hit and then we started running.”
Armada of police flooding into the strip. #Activeshooter #mandalaybay @KTNV pic.twitter.com/apy7w2us2A
— Joe Bartels (@Joe_Bartels) October 2, 2017
Even his fam never said this .no evidence at all that he converted.but u never know..
the perpetrator was a convert to Islam at the age of 30….as reported on Arutz Sheva. go find this information anywhere in the American media—-NOT!