The Latest: Vegas shooting survivors form human chain
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Latest on events marking the anniversary of the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people and injured more than 850 (all times local):
10:40 p.m.
Hundreds of survivors of the Las Vegas mass shooting have formed a human chain around the shuttered site of a country music festival where a gunman opened fire last year.
Videos on social media Monday night showed the display of solidarity on the Las Vegas Strip started around 10 p.m. That's around the time the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting began.
As people were linking arms and holding hands Monday night near the concert site, officials and several hundred others across town listened to bagpipes and the names of the 58 victims being read aloud.
A procession of pickup trucks with American flags flying from their truck beds drove down the Strip around the same time honking their horns.
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10:10 p.m.
Officials are reading the names of the 58 people who were killed in last year's mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip to mark the anniversary of the tragedy.
The names were read Monday before survivors and family members of the victims shortly after 10:05 p.m., the time when the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting on the Las Vegas Strip began.
Monday's ceremony at a downtown Las Vegas park where trees have been planted for every victim began with two minutes of bagpipes. Candles were also lit to commemorate those killed, and sobs could be heard in the crowd.
Many in attendance are wearing T-shirts and other apparel with the Vegas Strong message that became a rallying cry for the city after the shooting.
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10:00 p.m.
Casinos lining the famous Las Vegas Strip have dimmed their glittering lights to mark the first anniversary of a mass shooting at a concert that left 58 dead and hundreds wounded.
The casino lights and famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign were darkened for three minutes starting at 10:01 p.m. Monday — around the time a gunman opened fire from the gold tower of Mandalay Bay hotel across the street from the country music festival.
The shooting is the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
The Strip's bright lights were last dimmed in October 2017, marking a week after the shooting.
The casinos' marquees also went dark after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and to mark the deaths of famous Las Vegas entertainers like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, presidents like Ronald Reagan and local legends like former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian.
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9:30 p.m.
A popping noise similar to fireworks appeared to be causing distress for at least one attendee at a memorial garden in Las Vegas created in the wake of last year's mass shooting.
The noise could be heard near the downtown Las Vegas memorial garden where officials, survivors of the shooting and family members of the 58 victims attended a dedication ceremony Monday night.
The source of the noise wasn't immediately clear.
A few people expressed anxiety about the crowd as people packed in to see the garden tribute.
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8:30 p.m.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Nevada elected officials are honoring those killed in last year's mass shooting at a country music festival by placing red and white roses on a tribute wall and dedicating a memorial garden.
At least 200 people, including survivors and victims' family members, attended the Monday evening event.
The quarter-acre downtown garden features a tree for each of the 58 victims and an oak that represents life.
It is the only permanent public space that has been created to memorialize those killed when a gunman opened fired from a high-rise casino-resort suite on a crowd of 22,000.
Jay Pleggenkuhle (PLAY-ghen-kool) helped created the garden days after the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting.
He said Monday that it was the community's way of reacting "with a very deliberate act of compassion" to the violence.
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7:15 p.m.
Gun violence survivor and former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords is among the officials marking the anniversary of a mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, attended the dedication Monday night of a memorial garden that is the only permanent public space created as a tribute to the 58 people killed in the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting at a country music festival.
Giffords did not speak at the ceremony but Kelly did, calling Las Vegas a "resilient and tough" community.
Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, was gravely wounded in a 2011 shooting at a constituent gathering in Tucson. She has since founded a gun safety organization and a political operation working to defeat incumbent Republican lawmakers it faults for stalled efforts to curb gun violence.
Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller is one of the incumbents the group is working to defeat.
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6:30 p.m.
A garden that is the only permanent public space created in memory of the Las Vegas mass shooting victims is being formally dedicated during a ceremony Monday night.
Survivors, victims' family members, Gov. Brian Sandoval and others are gathering at the downtown Las Vegas space on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy.
The garden created by volunteers in the week after the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting is packed with colorful flowers, photos, flags and other mementos placed in memory of the victims.
The quarter-acre garden is home to 59 trees — one for each victim plus an oak that represents life — and a remembrance wall that has the names of all who were killed while attending an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
The garden is a few feet away from a bus stop and an adult store and miles from the shooting site.
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4:35 p.m.
Las Vegas is phasing out the "Vegas Strong" slogan that became a rallying cry for the community after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
A year later, the phrase is being replaced with "Vegas Stronger."
Fifty-eight people were killed and hundreds were injured Oct. 1, 2017, when a gunman fired from the Mandalay Bay casino-resort into a crowd attending a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Casino-resorts and the city's airport are among those who tweeted Monday the community has shown resiliency and bravery over the past year.
A video included in some tweets shows the Las Vegas skyline and #VEGASSTRONGER.
The Mandalay Bay's electronic billboard along the freeway is interchanging the "Vegas Stronger" message with ads for its spa and aquarium.
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3:15 p.m.
On the anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in the nation's modern history, the determined and the curious were turned away from the concert venue that became a killing field a year ago.
Officials with MGM Resorts International handed out maps and fliers on Monday to pedestrians who reached a locked and screened gate at the unused Las Vegas Strip festival grounds.
The company owns both the concert venue and the Mandalay Bay hotel, from which a gunman fired assault-style rifles from the 32nd floor, killing 58 people and injuring more than 850 on Oct. 1, 2017.
The fliers suggested a short walk to a neighboring Catholic church for "quiet reflection" inside or to sign a commemorative banner — or a trip to a planned evening dedication at a downtown memorial garden.
No parking was allowed along Las Vegas Boulevard and police closed a street between the church and the concert grounds, which has not been used since the shooting.
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1:55 p.m.
Survivors and others marking the Las Vegas Strip mass shooting have held an evangelical vigil at City Hall to pray for the 58 people who were killed and more than 800 injured.
Event organizer Pastor Troy Martinez declared that God was with the several dozen people praying and singing Monday beneath flags at half-staff on the steps of city government.
A trio of friends from California — Jann Blake of Menifee, Linda Hazelwood of Anaheim and Michelle Hamel of Yorba Linda — held hands and bowed heads as several preachers considered the Oct. 1, 2017, carnage.
Blake recalled strangers helping the three escape the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert venue without physical injuries.
She said the ceremony wasn't about closure, but to remember the good that happened that night.
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12:40 p.m.
Players from the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights plan to take part in several community events marking the anniversary of the Las Vegas Strip shooting.
The team says they'll visit a blood drive at the Las Vegas Convention Center Monday and go to Community Ambulance in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson to honor 21 emergency responders who were at the festival when the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting began.
Golden Knights players and team employees also plan to visit employees at the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor, and police and fire first-response dispatchers who fielded thousands of emergency calls.
The Knights' inaugural season home opener last October came just days after the deadliest mass shooting in the nation's modern history. The team went on to stun the league with a run to the Stanley Cup Final.
The team retired jersey No. 58 to honor shooting victims, and hoisted a banner with 58 stars to the rafters of T-Mobile Arena.
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10:15 a.m.
President Donald Trump said rapid-fire devices like those used in the Las Vegas massacre a year ago will soon be "ruled out."
Speaking in the Rose Garden on the anniversary of the attack that left 58 people dead, Trump said his administration is working through the process.
He said, "We are knocking out bump stocks. I've told the NRA. Bump stocks are gone."
Trump said the matter is working its way through regulations and public hearings.
He spoke on the anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Fifty-eight people died when a gunman fired from the Mandalay Bay casino-resort into an outdoor concert crowd on the Las Vegas Strip. He then killed himself.
Many of the 23 assault-style rifles found by police were modified with bump stocks.
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10 a.m.
Country music stations nationwide are planning a minute of silence to mark the one-year anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in the nation's modern history.
A country music trade group called Country Aircheck is encouraging radio stations and others connected with country music to pause on Monday for 58 seconds at 10:05 a.m. Pacific Time.
That time will commemorate the number of people shot and killed Oct. 1, 2017, at an outdoor country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip.
Country singer Jason Aldean was on stage when the shooting started.
Country Aircheck is using hashtags #CountryStrong and #VegasStrong to promote the effort.
It says the Nevada Association of Broadcasters, Academy of Country Music, ASCAP, Beasley Broadcast Group, CMT media company, Nashville Songwriters Association International and various entities in Nashville are among those planning to take part.
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9 a.m.
President Donald Trump is marking the one-year anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history as he speaks at the White House on a revamped trade agreement with America's neighbors.
Trump is sending his "thoughts and prayers" to victims of last year's Las Vegas shooting, which he called "a horrible, horrible time in the life of our country."
Trump said Monday from the Rose Garden that, "All of America is grieving for the lives lost and for the families they left behind."
He adds: "We love you, we are with you. We're working with you very hard.'"
Fifty eight people were killed and hundreds injured when a gunman in a high-rise hotel rained gunfire into a crowd of 22,000 attending an open-air country music concert.
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7:35 a.m.
The chief executive of MGM Resorts International is calling last year's mass shooting in Las Vegas "an unforgettable act of terror."
Company chairman and CEO Jim Murren said in a statement Monday that the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting that killed 58 people and injured more than 850 was a "senseless act of evil."
MGM owns the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the gunman was when he opened fire into an outdoor concert crowd below on the Las Vegas Strip.
Police and the FBI have not called the shooting a terrorist act or said the Mandalay Bay gunman was linked to a conspiracy. They say he acted alone.
How the event is characterized is important for MGM Resorts because it wants to invoke a federal anti-terrorism law enacted after Sept. 11, 2001, in defense of negligence lawsuits alleging that the casino giant could have prevented the shooting.
In his statement, Murren says that through unity and determination the Oct. 1 anniversary can become a day of healing and hope.
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7:15 a.m.
A somber sunrise remembrance ceremony is underway in Las Vegas at an event that begins a day of memorials on the anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Several hundred people including survivors, families of victims, first-responders and elected officials gathered at an outdoor amphitheater in Las Vegas Monday to hear Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval speak about the 58 people who were killed on Oct. 1, 2017.
He said: "Today we remember the unforgettable. Today, we comfort the inconsolable."
Sandoval added: "Today, we are reminded of the pain that never really goes away."
Prayers, songs, speeches and the release of 58 doves as Las Vegas were planned for the a day of memorials and other events.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo is also scheduled to speak at the daybreak event.
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6:10 a.m.
Sunrise is brightening the horizon over Las Vegas, where survivors, victims' family members, first-responders and elected officials are gathering to mark the anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo are among speakers at a daybreak memorial featuring the release of a flock of doves to honor the 58 people who were killed on Oct. 1, 2017.
Music from the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts high school Academy Singers and 58 seconds of silence are scheduled during the remembrance at the Clark County Government Center amphitheater.
The government center also is hosting the Las Vegas Portraits Project. It features artists' renderings of the people killed at a Route 91 Harvest Festival country music concert.
That display continues through Oct. 19, when the works will be presented to victims' loved ones.
Las Vegas city officials plan to host a prayer vigil beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the plaza in front of City Hall.
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1:15 a.m.
It's been a year since the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, and a scheduled speaker at a sunrise ceremony in Las Vegas is calling it a tragedy of grand scale.
Mynda Smith's sister was one of 58 people killed when a gunman in a high-rise hotel rained gunfire into a crowd of 22,000 attending an open-air country music concert.
Smith started a scholarship fund for victims' children and says she reached loved ones of almost all the dead. She says that for some, it may be too soon for hearts to be healed.
Survivors, victims' family members, first-responders and elected officials will offer prayers, songs, speeches and the release of 58 doves as Las Vegas begins a day of memorials and other events.
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Find complete AP coverage of the Las Vegas mass shooting here: https://apnews.com/tag/LasVegasmassshooting
