Las Vegas Shooting: Death Toll Rises To 58, With 500+ Injured; FBI Refutes ISIS Claims

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UPDATED at 8:40 AM PT with additional details: The death tolls has climbed to 58, and approximately 515 injured after Stephen Paddock opened fire on a country-music concert in Las Vegas in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, the city’s Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said in a presser with updates.

An FBI representative attending the latest presser refuted ISIS’s claim of responsibility for the attack perpetrated by retired 64-year-old accountant Stephen Paddock. The terror organization claimed Paddock recently converted to Islam, issuing that claim without evience via its news agency Amaq.

“We have determined to this point no connection with any international terror group,” the FBI rep said, adding that they “continue to investigate.”

At an earlier presser, Lombardo said Paddock “killed himself prior to our entry” into his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel adjacent to the concert venue. Paddock fired on a crowd of 22,000 concert goers, having checked in to the hotel Thursday night, using the credit card of companion Marilou Danley, who is out of country.

Paddock waited until the performance of the headline act in the sold-out three-day Route 91 Harvest concert, to insure maximum attendance. Police said they are still seeking a motive.

SWAT team that stormed the room found a cache of weapons in his hotel room indicating a planned-out attack. Lombardo reported at least 11 weapons were found in the hotel room the exact location of which they were able to locate from the hotel room’s smoke detector. Audio of the shooting suggests at least one was a fully automatic weapon, causing maximum carnage.

Nevada has some of the country’s most relaxed gun laws; the state does not require firearm owners to have a license, does not require registration of weapons, does not limit number of firearms someone can possess.

The 64-year-old lone shooter, described as a pilot and a hunter, lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada, about 80 miles outside Las Vegas; he may have been the community’s manager, authorities report.

Paddock’s brother told NBC News’ Tracy Conner his family was shocked, describing Paddock as a guy who “went to hotels, gambled…went to shows,” was “basically retired,” had held a series of job over the years and “was just a guy.”

Around 3:50 AM PT Lombardo had updated the death toll in the devastating shooting attack to 50. This is believed to make Sunday night’s event, when a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.

Singer Jason Aldean was performing on stage when the shooting began. Witnesses have said they initially thought the noise was fireworks, before ducking and fleeing. Singer Jake Owen told Fox News, “There was no chance for people to get away… You couldn’t tell where it was coming from, it was loud and just non-stop… It’s a miracle not more people were injured.”

Police have made contact with Paddock’s housemate/girlfriend Danley. Police were seeking two vehicles with Nevada plates and have asked for anyone with cell phone video that might prove useful to turn it over to the Las Vegas police.

Lombardo said at a news conference earlier this morning, “At approximately 10:08 PM, we had calls coming to dispatch of multiple shots being fired from the direction of the Mandalay Bay towards the Route 91 concert that was taking place on the East side of Las Vegas Boulevard… There was a shooter on 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay. Officers engaged the suspect at that location. He is dead. He has been identified. He is a local resident. I will not release his name at this time.”

At that time, Lombardo described Paddock as a “lone wolf” type, adding, “We don’t know what his belief system was at this time.”

Although terrorism has not yet been evoked, the mass attack brings to mind the deadly November 2015 shooting at a rock concert in Paris that killed 89 people during a coordinated attack throughout the capital that left a total 130 dead.

Sheriff Lombardo said in this case there are “no multiple shooters,” despite initial reports of incidents at other resorts. There are also “no explosives going off.” In May, more than 20 people were killed in a bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England.

In the immediate aftermath of the slaughter, flights in and out of McCarran Airport were temporarily suspended and locals were advised to say in their hotels and stay off the Strip, Vegas’ main drag.

 

 

 

Aldean released a statement on Instagram, saying: “Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still don’t know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that me and my crew are safe… It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night.”

Instagram Photo
Instagram Photo

The Mandalay Bay Resort also weighed in:

 

So did Celine Dion who is in residence at Caesars Palace:

 

Before his father responded, Eric Trump tweeted:

 

MORE…

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