Las Vegas Mass Shooting Deadliest in US History: What We Know So Far

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posted on 7 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, was a local Las Vegas man who acted alone and was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters.

Las Vegas: A gunman killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 400 at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, raining down rapid fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes before he was shot dead by police.

Here is what we know so far:

1) The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary and tentative, makes the attack the deadliest mass shooting in US history, eclipsing last year's massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club.

2) The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, was a local Las Vegas man who acted alone and was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters.

3) Officers confronted the suspect on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street from the concert, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. Authorities say the man died. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said.

4) Authorities have also located his associate named Marilou Danley, the suspected gunman's roommate. Police gave no details of whether she was suspected of involvement in the attack but described her as an "associate".

5) The shooting broke shortly after 10 pm local time (09:30 IST). Concert-goers reported hearing what they described as automatic gun fire during the shooting.

6) Country music star Jason Aldean was performing when the shots began ringing out Sunday night at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and said the shooting was "beyond horrific."

7) Thousands of panicked people fled the scene, in some cases trampling one another as law enforcement officers scrambled to control the situation. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack.

8) Authorities said rumors of other shootings or explosives such as car bombs in the area were false.

9) Las Vegas's casinos, nightclubs and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting broke out.

10) Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15. Flights were temporarily halted at McCarran International Airport because of the shooting, the airport said on its verified Twitter account.

(With inputs from AP and Reuters)