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Las Vegas, United States | AFP | A gunman killed 50 people and wounded hundreds more when he opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
Police said Monday the gunman, a Nevada resident identified as Stephen Paddock, had been found dead after a SWAT team responded to reports of multiple gunfire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, a hotel-casino next to the concert venue.
“We believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry,” Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told a news conference in the Nevada gambling hub.
At least eight rifles were recovered from the room that had been rented by the 64-year-old.
Concert-goers screamed and fled in panic as a steady stream of automatic gunfire rang out at the venue shortly after 10 pm local time (0500 GMT Monday), footage captured on smartphones showed.
Lombardo told reporters that initial estimates had put the number of dead “at in excess of 50 individuals” while more than 200 had been injured.
In a later statement, police put the number of dead at 50 and said the number of people taken to hospital at approximately 406, although it was not immediately clear if that figure included anyone who was later pronounced dead.
Police said Paddock, who lived in a town around 80 miles northeast (130 kilometers) of Las Vegas, had opened fire on the crowds below from the upper reaches of the giant hotel located on the famous Las Vegas Strip.
Paddock’s female companion, who had earlier been named as a person of interest by police, is believed to have been located, Lombardo added.
Thousands of fans were attending the concert next to the Mandalay Bay as part of a three-day country music festival known as Route 91.
Donald Trump was briefed on the “horrific tragedy”, the White House said, and the US president took to Twitter to offer his “warmest condolences and sympathies” to victims and families.
Pope Francis said he was “deeply saddened” by the “senseless tragedy” while Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May called it an “appalling attack.”
At least 50 people killed and more than 200 injured in a shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night https://t.co/yY0LnabLRN pic.twitter.com/NzKVo0o5ld
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Witnesses told how Paddock opened fire with an initial long burst, and then appeared to reload as he continued his spree.
“We heard (what) sounded like a glass breaking, so you looked around to see what’s going on and then heard a pop, pop, pop,” Monique Dekerf told CNN.
“You’d think for a moment okay we’re fine, there’s no more gunfire, then it starts again.”
Her sister Rachel said it sounded like “the shots were coming from the right side … it sounded like they were right beside us too … it was right there.”
Best-selling country singer Jason Aldean was on stage and near the end of his concert when the shooting began.
Aldean initially carried on playing when the first crackle of gunfire could be heard but then hurried off the stage once he realized that it was a shooting.
