Las Vegas shooting: Worst mass murder in US since 9/11

More than fifty Las Vegas concert-goers were killed Sunday night when a gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel, police say, resulting in the worst mass killing on American soil since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Another 406 people have been transported to the hospital.

The gunman, who later killed himself, has been identified by law enforcement as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a Nevada resident.

The shooting occurred outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Lucky Casino, where country music star Jason Aldean was onstage performing a concert in front of approximately 22,000 fans.

Videos of the chaos have been posted all over social media. By the sound, it appears that the shooter used an automatic weapon. It is extremely difficult to obtain a permit for automatic firearms. It remains unclear, as of this writing, how Paddock obtained the weapon.

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 2, 2017

Marilou Danley, who reportedly lived with Paddock, had earlier been detained by authorities. However, Las Vegas police issued a statement Monday morning that Danley was no longer a person of interest in the investigation.

Forty-five minutes before the shooting, an unknown woman described by witnesses as Hispanic (Danley is believed to be of Asian descent) told people that they were going to die that night.

“There was a lady who pushed her way forward into the concert venue into the first row,” one concert-goer told a local NBC affiliate. “She started messing with another lady and told us we are all going to die tonight.”

Paddock’s motive for gunning down so many innocent lives at the country music concert remains entirely a mystery. According to ABC News, the shooter did not have a criminal record.

— ABC News (@ABC) October 2, 2017

However, Fox News reports that the shooter “was known to authorities,” citing a federal law enforcement source

In the wake of the atrocity, Americans are flooding to local hospitals and blood banks to help the victims of the attack.

— Yasmeen Hassan (@YasmeenTV) October 2, 2017

The FBI’s Las Vegas office is asking members of the public for help with the investigation.

— FBI Las Vegas (@FBILasVegas) October 2, 2017

This is a breaking news story. It will be updated if necessary.