The fourth-annual Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada ended in panic and tragedy after 58 people were killed and over 500 others were injured in the deadliest mass shooting by a lone suspect in U.S. history.
The suspect, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada. Police discovered 23 rifles and one handgun inside his Mandalay Bay Hotel room that he had rented since September 28.
Paddock fired a weapon from two windows that he broke on the 32nd floor of the hotel into the crowd of 22,000 concertgoers, which continued over the course of 10 minutes. He was later found dead from a suicide by police before they entered his room. The motive is currently unknown.
Jason Aldean was performing during the final act of the night at the time. When sudden, rapid gunshots were heard, he ran away from the scene as fast as he could.
“Tonight has been beyond horrific,” Aldean wrote on his Instagram account. “I still don’t know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that me and my crew are safe.”
Multiple people, from celebrities to politicians, shared their sympathies online and in press conferences.
“My heart is breaking for Las Vegas,” singer Ariana Grande posted on Twitter. “We need love, unity, peace, gun control and for people to look at this and call this what it is – terrorism.”
“I don’t know if I have words to describe what we’re going through and what these poor, unfortunate victims are going through,” Nevada governor Brian Sandoval said. “We’re angry, we’re grieving, we’re confused. People are hurting.”
President Donald Trump condemned the attack in a statement to the press, describing it as “an act of pure evil.”
“I want to thank the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and all the First Responders for their courageous efforts and for helping to save the lives of so many,” Trump said. “It shows what true professionalism is all about.”
Some students were also aware of the attack and are praying for the victims, like seniors Kayla Jacklich, Cyan McKibben, and Makayla Rodriguez.
“We should all just support them and allow them to grieve in their own ways and find ways to donate money for them,” Rodriguez said.
There have been talks about the future of security at hotels. Junior Lexi Hyer thinks that the staff should raise the number of security systems in their buildings.
“They should definitely have more security for, like metal detectors or something, especially for, like, outside events,” she said. “It’s, like open and it’s easier for people to, like, get in. They just need to be more careful about that.”
Nevada’s gun law says that owners are not required to have a license or have their weapons registered, and there is no limit to how many firearms a single person is allowed to possess. According to the National Rifle Association, automatic assault weapons and machine guns are also legal in Nevada as long as they are registered and possessed in adherence to federal law. The Second Amendment of the Constitution states that citizens have a right to own and bear arms.
