Just before midnight in Las Vegas, multiple sources confirmed a gunman shooting from the 32th floor of a building fired at concertgoers outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Sunday. The incident happened outside a stage where singer Jason Aldean was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a three-day country music event.
SWAT arrived and reportedly found the suspect, who police have identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Paddock previously worked for Central Park Apartments in Houston and lived in Mesquite, Texas. Police said a woman originally considered to be a person of interest, Marilou Danley, has been located and was out of the country when the shooting occurred. They don't believe she was involved.
Before it, the Orlando, Fla., Pulse Nightclub shooting of June 2016 was considered the worst massacre the nation had seen, when 49 people were killed and 58 others were wounded in a hate crime against LGBT people. The shooter in that attack, identified as Omar Mateen, also injured 58 people. Before Orlando, the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting in Blacksburg, Va. was previously the most fatal shooting, when a 23-year-old student, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people before committing suicide.
Sunday night's mass murder, similar to the one in Orlando last summer, targeted crowds of people at an entertainment venue. Video footage shows Aldean fleeing from center stage, as rapid-fire shots and screams could be heard in the background.
The Las Vegas shooting is currently under investigation.
"Our condolences go out to the families who lost loved ones tonight. Thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by this tragedy," the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shared on Twitter Monday morning.
———
©2017 the Houston Chronicle
Visit the Houston Chronicle at www.chron.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
