Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

The latest: Trump holds moment of silence at White House

Mass Shooting 2

Steve Marcus

Law enforcement officers are shown on Las Vegas Boulevard South on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, after a mass shooting during a music festival Sunday.

Updated Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 | 12:34 p.m.

Mass Shooting on Las Vegas Strip

An investigator works in the room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino where a gunman opened fire from on a music festival Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, in Las Vegas. The gunman killed dozens and injuring hundreds at the festival. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Launch slideshow »

The Latest on the shooting in Las Vegas (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

A bell tolled three times as a solemn President Donald Trump paused on the White House South Lawn for a moment of silence to honor the victims of Sunday's mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Flanked by first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, Trump walked out onto the lawn for the memorial moment Monday afternoon.

The White House's flag was at half-staff.

They were honoring the 58 people killed Sunday night when a gunman opened fire on a concert crowd in Las Vegas.

Police say Stephen Craig Paddock was on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel tower Sunday night when he fired into the Route 91 Harvest festival. More than 500 people were wounded.

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12:25 p.m.

Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has raised her fist at the U.S. Capitol and said "the nation is counting on you" after the Las Vegas mass shooting.

Giffords, who was grievously wounded in 2011, and her husband, Mark Kelly, were at the Capitol on Monday. They say Congress must pass legislation to keep deadly weapons out of the wrong hands.

Kelly and Giffords had planned to campaign for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam, but instead they went to the Capitol to comment on the shooting.

Citing President Donald Trump, Kelly said "Americans need more than our president's prayers. We need his plans."

Kelly is calling for a commission to work on solutions to gun violence. He says it's the only acceptable moral course for the country.

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12:15 p.m.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo says the hundreds of people wounded in the Las Vegas mass shooting were taken to five southern Nevada hospitals.

Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center says in a statement it received 14 patients who died and more than 160 who were injured.

The statement on Monday said the Las Vegas hospital's doctors performed about 30 surgeries and that police were still trying to notify relatives of the victims.

Hospital CEO Todd Sklamberg said most of the hospital's trauma team and staff worked through the night after the shooting that killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 500.

Police have warned that identifying bodies from the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history will be a "long, laborious process."

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12:05 p.m.

The United Nations says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "very shocked and alarmed" by the deadly attack in Las Vegas.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday it was a horrific loss of life.

Haq said the secretary-general will be writing a condolence letter to the government of the United States to express sorrow at the large number of killings.

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12:01 p.m.

The father of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Craig Paddock was described decades ago by the FBI as a "glib, smooth-talking" con man who enjoyed gambling, umpiring prison sports games and playing bridge.

Paddock was 7 and the oldest of four children when his father was arrested for a string of Phoenix bank robberies.

Neighbor Eva Price took the boy swimming while FBI agents searched the family home.

She told the Tucson Citizen at the time: "We're trying to keep Steve from knowing his father is held as a bank robber. I hardly know the family, but Steve is a nice boy. It's a terrible thing."

Paddock's father went by the nicknames "Big Daddy," ''Chromedome" and "Old Baldy."

Before the robberies, he served prison time in Illinois for stealing a car, engaging in a confidence game and conspiring to pass bad checks. He was in prison for the first three years of his oldest son's life.

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11:50 a.m.

Las Vegas shooter Stephen Craig Paddock's father was a notorious bank robber who tried to run down an FBI agent with his car in Las Vegas in 1960 and was on the agency's most wanted list after escaping from a federal prison in Texas in 1968.

Paddock was a teen when an FBI poster issued after the escape said his father Benjamin Hoskins Paddock had been "diagnosed as psychopathic."

The FBI warning about the elder Paddock said he should be considered "armed and very dangerous." He had been serving a 20-year sentence for a string of Phoenix bank robberies.

Benjamin Hoskins Paddock died in 1998.

Stephen Paddock's brother, Eric, confirmed their father's identity in an interview Monday with The Orlando Sentinel.

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11:38 a.m.

Las Vegas police warn that identifying bodies from the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history will be a "long, laborious process."

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo also said Monday that investigators are continuing their collection of evidence and working to reunite people with relatives who were at the shooting site.

Police say Stephen Craig Paddock was on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel tower Sunday night when he opened fire at concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest festival. At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 were wounded.

Authorities have set up hotlines and centers to help people track down relatives.

Lombardo says he expects a convention center to be used for that because authorities need a large space.

11:21 a.m.

A brother of the suspect in the worst U.S. mass shooting in the modern history says Stephen Craig Paddock was "not a normal guy" and frequently played high stakes video poker.

Eric Paddock in an interview in Orlando, Florida, says his 64-year-old brother once "texted me a picture that he won $40,000 on a slot machine."

He says his brother was "not a normal guy" and "played high stakes video poker."

Eric Paddock says last had contact with him via text messages in September.

He says his brother being named by authorities as the shooting suspect was "like if an asteroid fell out of the sky."

Authorities say Paddock opened fire on a crowd of concert-goers at an outdoor country-music show in Las Vegas on Sunday night, leaving 58 people dead and more than 500 wounded.

10:56 a.m.

Police in the Nevada resort town where the shooter in the worst U.S. mass shooting in recent history lived say his home was searched by investigators and that local officers never had contact with him while he was living there.

Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, lived in a three-bedroom house on a cul-de-sac in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada.

Mesquite police officer Quinn Averett referred comment on what was found in Paddock's home to Las Vegas police investigating the shooting.

Mesquite is a city of about 18,000 people along the state line with Arizona.

Authorities are investigating why Paddock opened fire on a crowd of concert-goers at an outdoor country-music show in Las Vegas on Sunday night, leaving 58 people dead and more than 500 wounded.

10:27 a.m.

Police from the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, Texas say the suspect in the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history lived there from 2004 to 2012.

Lt. Brian Parish says property records show Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, indicated he lived there during the period but that public records suggested he may have lived in the suburb longer.

Parrish said Monday that Paddock owned at least three rental properties.

Parrish also says Mesquite police have found no indications that officers had contact with Paddock.

Nevada police have said Parrish was most recently living in that state's city of Mesquite near the state line with Arizona.

Investigators searched the Nevada home. Officers in Mesquite, Nevada, also have said they had no contact with Paddock before the shooting.

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10:11 a.m.

Authorities say they're no longer looking for the woman who police believe was a companion to the gunman in the Las Vegas country music festival shooting that killed at least 58 people.

Police initially said that the 62-year-old woman was shooter Stephen Craig Paddock's roommate in Mesquite, Nevada.

Police now say they've located her and determined she wasn't involved in the mass shooting, as she has been out of the country.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo says investigators will speak with her upon her return but that they are no longer actively searching for her.

Police say Paddock was on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel tower Sunday night when he opened fire onto concert-goers at the Route 91 Harvest festival, wounding more than 500 others

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9:58 a.m.

The wife of a Tennessee man killed by the Las Vegas shooter says her husband died because he saved her from being shot.

Heather Gulish Melton told WZTV that her husband, Sonny Melton of Paris, Tennessee, was among the 50 killed Sunday night in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

She says in a statement to the Nashville station that "he saved my life and lost his."

Radio station WENK reports Melton was a registered nurse.

Jeremy Butler, who says he has been best friends with Sonny Melton since he was 3, told the Paris (Tennessee) Post Intelligencer that Melton was shielding his wife from gunfire when he was fatally shot.

Butler said the couple got married about a year ago.

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9:10 a.m.

Authorities say a woman who was a companion of the Las Vegas shooter is considered a person of interest and is out of the country.

Sheriff Joe Lombardo didn't release further details Monday about the woman but said authorities would try to speak with her when she got back to the United States.

Authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting that killed 58 people at an outdoor country music concert but say they believe 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock acted alone.

He killed himself after carrying out the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

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This story has been corrected to show that this is the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

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9 a.m.

Authorities in Nevada praised the response to a mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert by police and health care workers.

Gov. Brian Sandoval said at a news conference Monday that he visited some of the victims in the hospital and that, "We're angry, we're grieving, we're confused, people are hurting."

Sandoval called the shooting that killed 58 people and injured more than 500 others Sunday night a cowardly, despicable act.

He and other local officials praised first responders, saying they saved scores of lives.

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8:50 a.m.

The FBI says the shooter who killed 58 people and injured more than 500 others at a Las Vegas concert had no connection to an international terrorist group.

The announcement from Special Agent in Charge Aaron Rouse at a news conference Monday comes after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack without providing evidence.

The extremist group claimed that the shooter was "a soldier" who had converted to Islam months ago. It has made exaggerated or false claims in the past.

Authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting but say they believe 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock acted alone. He killed himself after the shooting.

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8:44 a.m.

Sheriff Joe Lombardo says the death toll from the Las Vegas shooting has risen to 58, with 515 people injured. A gunman opened fire on a Las Vegas country music festival Sunday night.

The gunman opened fire from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Authorities say 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock killed himself after the shooting. Police have yet to determine a motive.

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11:02 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he will travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday.

He spoke Monday morning, hours after the shooting at a country music festival late Sunday killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 400. It is the worst mass shooting in American history.

Trump said the nation must stay unified. He said that although "feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that binds us today and always will."

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10: 54 a.m.

President Donald Trump is calling the mass shooting attack in Las Vegas "an act of pure evil."

Trump says the nation is joined together today in sadness, shock and grief.

Trump is addressing the attack on a country music festival Sunday night that left at least 50 people dead and more than 400 injured.

Trump tweeted his "warmest condolences and sympathies" earlier Monday morning.

The gunman opened fire from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Authorities say 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock killed himself after the shooting. Police have yet to determine a motive.

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7:11 a.m.

The White House says President Donald Trump will speak at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time about the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Trump's remarks were added to his schedule Monday morning. He tweeted his "warmest condolences and sympathies" earlier in the morning.

The president was briefed on the shooting at a country music concert, which left at least 50 people dead and more than 400 injured Sunday night.

The gunman opened fire from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Authorities say 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock killed himself after the shooting. Police have not yet determined a motive.

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6:55 a.m.

Las Vegas authorities are calling for blood donations and setting up a hotline to report missing people in the wake of a mass shooting that injured more than 400 people and killed 50 at a country music concert Sunday night.

Las Vegas police said Monday that it will take time to identify all of the injured and dead in what was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

The number to report missing people is (866) 535-5654. Police have also opened a "family reunification center" for people to find loved ones at 400 S. Martin L. King Blvd., in Building B.

Las Vegas police say anyone who wants to help can give blood at one of two locations in Las Vegas and nearby Henderson. A blood drive is also being planned.

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6:30 a.m.

The brother of the man who killed at least 50 people at an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip says he's "completely dumbfounded" by the shooting, which is the deadliest in modern U.S. history.

In a brief interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Eric Paddock says he can't understand what happened. He also said he's made a statement to police.

Country music star Jason Aldean was performing Sunday night at the end of the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival when the gunman opened fire from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Authorities say 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock killed himself after the shooting. Police have not yet determined a motive.

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6:30 a.m.

Pope Francis is calling the Las Vegas shooting a "senseless tragedy" and is assuring victims of his prayers.

The Vatican secretary of state sent a telegram of condolences Monday to the bishop of Las Vegas, saying the pope was "deeply saddened" to learn of the shooting.

The telegram said Francis praised the efforts of police and emergency crews.

In the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, a gunman opened fire on an outdoor concert, killing at least 50 people and injuring more than 400 others.

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6:07 a.m.

Las Vegas police say more than 400 people were hospitalized in a mass shooting at a country music concert.

Police said Monday morning that the shooter, 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock was found dead in a hotel room with as many as 10 firearms.

Authorities say that 406 people were taken to hospitals and 50 of those are dead, including an off-duty Las Vegas police officer. His name was not immediately released.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo says Paddock first checked into the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel on Sept. 28 and was found dead inside a hotel room.

Two on-duty officers were also hurt. One of those has been upgraded from critical to stable condition.

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5:55 a.m.

The U.S. Homeland Security Department says there is no "specific credible threat" involving other public venues in the U.S. after the Las Vegas shooting that killed at least 50 people.

The gunman, identified by police as Stephen Paddock died at the scene. Police said he fired from the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas Strip casino onto an outdoor country music festival Sunday night. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

In Washington, A Homeland Security spokesman, David Lapan, tweeted Monday the department has "no information to indicate a specific credible threat involving other public venues in the country."

Police have not yet determined a motive in the shootings.

5:45 a.m.

Heavily armed police are searching the Nevada retirement-community home of a man authorities say killed more than 50 people when he opened fire at a country-music concert in Las Vegas.

Mesquite Police Chief Troy Tanner says police surrounded and entered the single-family home where 64-year-old Stephen Paddock lived with 62-year-old Marilou Danley early Monday morning.

He says Danley was not at the house and police saw "no movement" inside before serving a search warrant at the one-story, three-bedroom home in the Sun City Mesquite retirement community, about 80 miles north of Las Vegas.

Tanner says detectives from Las Vegas and North Las Vegas were at the scene in the resort community of Mesquite, located near the Arizona state line.

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5:20 a.m.

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department says two of its off-duty members were shot during the attack at a Las Vegas concert.

Authorities say both were taken to the hospital, where one remains in critical condition and the other was in stable condition.

Officials did not immediately release their names.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo says at least 50 people were killed and more than 200 people were wounded when a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Strip.

Authorities have identified the suspected gunman as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. Paddock died after police confronted him Sunday on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel tower on the Las Vegas Strip.

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5:15 a.m.

Las Vegas police say they've determined that a woman they were seeking is no longer considered a "person of interest" in the deadly mass shooting at a country music festival.

Police say they don't believe 62-year-old Marilou Danley was involved in the Sunday night shooting that killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 200.

Police initially said they were seeking the woman who may have been the roommate of the shooter.

The gunman has been identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock.

Paddock died after police confronted him Sunday on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel tower on the Las Vegas Strip.

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4:40 a.m.

Authorities say the on-duty police officer who was wounded at the deadly Las Vegas concert attack is out of surgery and in stable condition.

The unnamed officer was one of two on-duty Las Vegas police officers wounded Sunday night. The other sustained minor injuries.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo says at least 50 people — including two off-duty officers — were killed and more than 200 people were wounded at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Strip.

Authorities have identified the suspected gunman as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock.

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4:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump is extending condolences to the victims of the shooting in Las Vegas and their families.

In a tweet Monday, Trump offered "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!"

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump was "briefed on the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas."

Sanders said that "we are monitoring the situation closely."

A gunman's attack on the Sunday night country music concert killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 200.

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3:30 a.m.

A Nevada sheriff says the death toll has climbed to 50 in the attack on a Las Vegas concert Sunday, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo says more than 200 people were wounded at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Strip.

Authorities have identified the suspected gunman as Nevada resident Stephen Paddock.

Lombardo says officers confronted Paddock on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street from the concert. Paddock is dead.

Authorities say they have located 62-year-old Marilou Danley, who was wanted as a person of interest in this incident.

The dead gunman is also believed to have checked in as a hotel guest.

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2 a.m.

A Nevada sheriff says one on-duty officer is in critical condition and another was wounded in the Las Vegas concert shooting that left more than 20 people dead.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo says two off-duty officers have died.

Several officers from California were attending the outdoor Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on Sunday when a gunman opened fire. A Bakersfield Police officer was shot and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Authorities have not released any of their identities.

More than 100 people were injured.

Lombardo says the suspect is dead.

The sheriff says they believe this was a "lone wolf" attack but said they are looking for a roommate of the dead suspect as a person of interest.

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1:55 a.m.

Country music star Jason Aldean took to social media to say he and his crew are safe after a gunman killed more than 20 people at an outdoor concert Sunday.

Aldean was in the middle of his performance when the bullets rained down on the crowd. He posted on Instagram hours later, calling the shooting "beyond horrific."

Las Vegas authorities say more than 100 people are wounded in the attack.

Clark County's sheriff says officers confronted the suspect on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street from the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. Authorities say the man is dead. They did not release the suspect's name but said he is a local resident.

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1:40 a.m.

Las Vegas authorities say more than 20 people are dead and 100 people are wounded after a man opened fire on an outdoor concert late Sunday.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo says officers confronted the suspect on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street from the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. Authorities say the man is dead. They did not release the suspect's name but said he is a local resident.

Several officers from the Bakersfield Police Department were attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on Sunday when a gunman opened fire. One was shot and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Authorities did not release his name.

Lombardo said they believe this was a "lone wolf" attack but said they are looking for a roommate of the dead suspect as a person of interest

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1:13 a.m.

A Southern California police department says one of its off-duty officers was shot during the attack on a Las Vegas concert.

Several officers from the Bakersfield Police Department were attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on Sunday when a gunman opened fire. One was shot and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Authorities did not release his name.

Two people are dead and dozens wounded after someone opened fire on an outdoor country music festival across the street from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Las Vegas police say one suspect is 'down' but did not give any other details.

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1 a.m.

Some flights have resumed at the Las Vegas airport after all planes were temporarily grounded due to the deadly shooting on the Strip.

McCarran International Airport says limited flight activity has resumed early Monday.

Two people are dead and dozens wounded after someone opened fire late Sunday on an outdoor country music festival.

Las Vegas police say one suspect is 'down' but did not give any other details.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said 26 people were admitted to the hospital after the incident.

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12:50 a.m.

Las Vegas police say one suspect is 'down' after a deadly shooting Sunday at an outdoor concert and authorities don't believe there are any more shooters.

Two people are dead and dozens more wounded after a gunman opened fire during Jason Aldean's performance at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.

Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15.

McCarran International Airport officials say all flights in and out have been temporarily halted.

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12:30 a.m.

All planes have been grounded at the Las Vegas airport after the deadly shooting at an outdoor concert on the Strip.

McCarran International Airport says all flights in and out have been temporarily halted in response to the shooting.

Two people are dead and dozens wounded after someone opened fire late Sunday on a music festival.

Las Vegas police say one suspect is 'down' but did not give any other details.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said 26 people were admitted to the hospital after the incident.

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12:15 a.m.

A concert-goer says he heard what sounded like fireworks while he was watching Jason Aldean's performance at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Sunday night.

Thirty-six-year-old Kodiak Yazzie said the music stopped temporarily and started up again before another round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage.

As the 40,000 fans in the crowd began to flee, Yazzie took cover and said he saw flashes of light coming from the Mandalay Bay hotel tower high above.

The bursts of pops would start and stop for more than five minutes. He says he saw dozens of ambulances as he ran for safety. He later got a Lyft driver to take him home to suburban Henderson.

Las Vegas police say one suspect is 'down.'

A hospital spokeswoman says two people are dead and dozens wounded.

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12:05 a.m.

Las Vegas police say one suspect is 'down' after shooting at country music festival that has left two people dead and dozens wounded.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said 26 people were admitted to the hospital.

Dozens of patrol vehicles descended on the Strip after authorities received reports of an active shooter near the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Some officers took cover behind their vehicles while others carrying assault rifles ran into the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15.

Some flights destined for the McCarran International Airport were diverted due to incident.

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11:55 p.m.

A Las Vegas hospital says at least two people are dead and dozens wounded after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said 26 people were admitted to the hospital. She says, of those, at least two have died, 12 are in critical condition and the rest are being evaluated.

Dozens of patrol vehicles descended on the Strip after authorities received reports of an active shooter near the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15.

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11:45 p.m.

Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival and the sound of what they described as automatic gun fire.

Witnesses say they saw multiple victims Sunday night as they fled the gunfire raining down on the concert venue.

Some later huddled in the basement of the nearby Tropicana hotel-casino.

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11 p.m.

Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.

Dozens of patrol vehicles descended on the Strip after authorities received reports of an active shooter near the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

Some officers took cover behind their vehicles while others carrying assault rifles ran into the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said the Las Vegas hospital is taking in "several" people with gunshot wounds. She didn't have any other immediate information.

Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15.

Some flights destined for the McCarran International Airport were diverted due to incident.

Witnesses say country singer Jason Aldean was playing near the end of the concert when gunfire rang out.

No further information was immediately known.