At the Las Vegas country music festival on Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in the US was perpetrated by a 64 years old man armed with 10 rifles when he rained gunfire killing at least 58 people and then himself.
The attacks from a 32nd-floor window in the the Mandalay Bay hotel shredded into a crowd of 40,000 people causing panic for the several minutes the attack lasted. As police scrambled for the gunman, a lot fans stampeded and more than 500 people were injured.
Stephen Paddock, a former resident of a retirement and golf community in Mesquite, Nevada, was identified by the Police as the gunman and his intents in staging the attack are unknown. While the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the carnage, there is no veracity to that claim.
The death toll clearly surpasses last year's slaughter of 49 people at the orlando Pulse nightclub by a gunman who pledged adherence to the Islamic State.
According Sheriff Joe Lombardo, the motive of Paddock was unclear as he had no prior criminal record. Police also confirmed that Paddock had checked into the hotel on Thursday. More than 10 rifles were found in the room where Paddock killed himself, according to Lambardo. Police found more weapon when they searched his home in Mesquite.
The Sheriff confirmed that the dead included one off-duty police officer, while two on-duty police officers were injured.
In a white house address, President Donald Trump said
He brutally murdered more than 50 people and wounded hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil.
In a gesture of national mourning, he ordered flags lowered to half-staff and scheduled a visit for Wednesday.
Non Stop Attack
Videos of the attack showed people flee as continuous rapid gunfire ripped through the area.
According to Reuters, 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 shortly after 10 p.m. local time.
Shares of U.S. casino operators fell in morning trading on Wall Street, with MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay, down 3.5 percent. Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd, Wynn Resorts Ltd and Las Vegas Sands Corp were little changed.
We are stunned
The shooters brother, Eric Paddock said the family was stunned.
"We have no idea. We're horrified. We're bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims, we have no idea in the world," said Eric.
As in previous mass shootings, the carnage sparked among gun control advocate. Right to bear arms is entrenched in the second amendment of the US constitution. In this case, Stephen Paddock had no prior criminal record and might have easily obtained a weapon if background checks were in place. In the same vein, individuals with guns could have incapacitated him before the incident degenerated into a carnage.
Reuters believe "the rampage was reminiscent of a mass shooting at a Paris rock concert in November 2015 that killed 89 people, part of a wave of coordinated attacks by Islamist militants in which 130 people were killed."