Images From Las Vegas Shooting Capture Terror, Chaos From Scene
A wounded woman is moved outside the Tropicana during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late S...A wounded woman is moved outside the Tropicana during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)MORE LESS
A mass shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday night killing at least 50 people and wounding hundreds has become the deadliest in U.S. history.
Images from the active shooting scene showed the terror and chaos as people rushed to dodge and protect themselves from incoming bullets.
A gunman perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino located on the Las Vegas Strip opened fire across the street toward an outdoor country music festival.
Vegas police identified the suspected shooter as Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old white man from Mesquite, Nevada. Paddock fatally shot himself before police could enter his hotel room, according to Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo.
People run from the New York New York during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Stirp in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)Police run to cover at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher)A police officer runs along a sidewalk near a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)A police officer takes cover behind a police vehicle during a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)Police officers advise people to take cover near the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)A police officer takes cover behind a truck at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher)Police officers stand along the Las Vegas Strip the Mandalay Bay resort and casino during a shooting near the casino, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)A police officer stands at the scene of a shooting along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher)Police officers stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher)A wounded woman is moved outside the Tropicana during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)People assist a wounded woman at the Tropicana during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Stirp in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)People wait as the Tropicana Las Vegas goes on lockdown during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)People are searched by Las Vegas police at the Tropicana Las Vegas during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Summer Concepcion
is a newswriter for TPM based in New York. She previously covered the 2016 election for Fusion, conducted investigative research for The Nation Institute, and has written for NBC Chicago and the Chicago Reader.
Trump: “I hear the mass shooting in Vegas is getting great ratings! Puerto Rico should be more grateful. NBA players better stand for the anthem. Now watch this drive…”
My theory is that the shooter, Stephen Craig Paddock was a Trump fan and did this to take the media attention away from the Puerto Rico disaster, which was making Trump look bad.
Here’s the thing I hate about this, aside from the fact that we now have 450+ new mass-shooting casualties to momentarily slake the Tree of Liberty’s insatiable thirst for the blood of innocents. It’s the part where we can’t just focus on being sad and appalled because we have to standby and wait to learn the race of the shooter to find out whether Trump has finally gotten his Reichstag Fire. That and the part where we are able to at least deduce that the murdering fiend de jour wasn’t Muslim and was white because this happened last night and we haven’t already been specifically told otherwise.
I was not appreciating that this was a fully automatic weapon. It’s going to be interesting to watch this investigation unfold. Was he licensed (yes, you can be licensed to own such a weapon, if you can believe that) to own a machine gun?
And licensed or not, where did the gun come from?
It is surprising there is little mention in the media that clearly this was a full automatic or several based on the sound. Those are the hardest/most expensive/most regulated weapons to get.
Trump: “I hear the mass shooting in Vegas is getting great ratings! Puerto Rico should be more grateful. NBA players better stand for the anthem. Now watch this drive…”
My theory is that the shooter, Stephen Craig Paddock was a Trump fan and did this to take the media attention away from the Puerto Rico disaster, which was making Trump look bad.
Here’s the thing I hate about this, aside from the fact that we now have 450+ new mass-shooting casualties to momentarily slake the Tree of Liberty’s insatiable thirst for the blood of innocents. It’s the part where we can’t just focus on being sad and appalled because we have to standby and wait to learn the race of the shooter to find out whether Trump has finally gotten his Reichstag Fire. That and the part where we are able to at least deduce that the murdering fiend de jour wasn’t Muslim and was white because this happened last night and we haven’t already been specifically told otherwise.
I was not appreciating that this was a fully automatic weapon. It’s going to be interesting to watch this investigation unfold. Was he licensed (yes, you can be licensed to own such a weapon, if you can believe that) to own a machine gun?
And licensed or not, where did the gun come from?
It is surprising there is little mention in the media that clearly this was a full automatic or several based on the sound. Those are the hardest/most expensive/most regulated weapons to get.