President Donald Trump on Monday said a mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 50 people dead and hundreds injured was “an act of pure evil.”
“My fellow Americans, we are joined together today in sadness, shock and grief,” Trump said in a statement from the White House.
He called the shooting, the most deadly in U.S. history, “an act of pure evil” and thanked the Las Vegas police department and first responders for the “miraculous” speed “with which they acted.”
Police on Monday identified Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old white man from Mesquite, Nevada, as the shooter who opened fire on a music festival on the Las Vegas strip, killing 50 people and injuring hundreds.
“Hundreds of our fellow citizens are now mourning the sudden loss of a loved one, a parent, a child, a brother or sister. We cannot fathom their pain, we cannot imagine their loss,” he said. “To the families of the victims, we are praying for you and we are here for you.”
Trump said he ordered the flag to be flown at half-staff and announced that he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday “to meet with law enforcement, first responders and the families of the victims.”
“In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one, and it always has,” he said. “May God bless the souls of the lives that are lost, may God give us the grace of healing and may God provide the grieving families with strength to carry on.”
