The gunman in the shooting incident at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas has been identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock.
Paddock, a white male local resident, opened rapid-fire at an outdoor concert in the wee hours of the morning causing pandemonium among thousands of concertgoers until SWAT units found and killed him.
Local media reports that about 50 people have died from the incident while no fewer than 200 sustained various degrees of injuries.
Sheriff Joseph Lombardo called for calm after the shooter was taken out, saying that Marilou Danley, a woman he described as Asian and 4-foot-11, has been declared a person of interest following the bloody attack.
BREAKING NEWS: Police name Stephen Paddock, age 64, as Las Vegas shooting suspect. He was killed by police. https://t.co/9UIeDKeODd pic.twitter.com/BltWyNc86h
— CNN (@CNN) October 2, 2017
In the aftermath of the mayhem, the police also descended on nearby Ali Baba Restaurant, where they investigated reports of a shooting at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino, not far from the concert ground.
No reason has been adduced for the abominable attack but the police have promised to give updates as soon as they’re available.
At this time we do not believe there are any more shooters. More information to come shortly from @Sheriff_LVMPD.
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017
Two concertgoers who barely escaped described hearing round after round of gunfire
“It just kept coming,” one of the witnesses, Robyn Webb, told The Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It was relentless.”
The Vegas massacre is the bloodiest attack in the United States since another lone wolf stormed a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida last year killing 49.
So far, the authorities are yet to rule this latest onslaught as an act of terrorism.
The coming hours will tell us more. Meanwhile American President, Donald Trump, has nothing but sympathy for the victims:
My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017
