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Hoaxes already circulating about the Las Vegas shooting
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Hoaxes already circulating about the Las Vegas shooting

What happened?

More than 50 people were killed and another 400 or more were injured from a shooting at a country music concert late Sunday night outside the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.

Police say the suspect fired a weapon from a 32nd-floor window. It is believed he fired a fully-automatic weapon. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing on stage when shots rung out. Police believe the shooter acted as a “lone wolf.” Tens of thousands of people were at the concert.

The shots began ringing out around 10 p.m. local time, or around 1 a.m. ET. It is reportedly the deadliest mass shooting in U.S.

Since news of the shooting broke, much false information has been spread.

Fake news

● Many people began sharing a photo of the shooter, which misidentified him. The man in the viral photo is actually comedian Sam Hyde, and not an "Islamic convert" known as Samir Al-Hajeed.

The account that shared the photo received more than 328 retweets on the image.

● Another social media user shared a photo of a man she claimed to be her brother, who was allegedly lost among the dead and injured. However, the photo featured a Mexican man who is suspected of being connected to a murder and is in jail.

This update was retweeted over 100 times. A Mexican news site report confirmed that the man photographed is in jail.

● Another user tweeted that their son was missing after the attack, and immediately followed up the tweet with a plug for their Instagram page.

● A user on site 4chan targeted a Canadian man who shared the same name as the shooter — Stephen Paddock. According to reports, the shooter was a resident of Mesquite, Nevada — not New Brunswick, Canada.

● A White House-credentialed website, Gateway Pundit, falsely accused a different man altogether of the shooting.

The article has since been pulled down from the site, but several screenshots were taken of the initial story before the outlet retracted its story.

According to the original article, Gateway Pundit wrote, "Geary Danley, reportedly the murderer of at least 20 concertgoers in Las Vegas, from initial accounts was a far left loon."

● Wayne Allyn Root, former Libertarian vice presidential nominee and conservative media personality, made claims on Twitter that the shooting was "a coordinated Muslim terror attack."

He also reported shootings at "multiple casinos" and reported them as facts.

He later recanted the theory of multiple hotels.

● Another Twitter user reported that his nephew missing, sharing a photo of Vine star Lil Terio. The tweet was shared approximately 400 times before it was removed.

●A Twitter user shared a photo of pornographic film star Johnny Sins and said that it was his father.

When reached for comment by Mashable, the user said that he shared the fake updates for attention. "I think you know why," the user told Mashable when they asked why he would spread false information. "For the retweets :)"

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Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor

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