2:45
- ABC News
- October 3, 2017
At least 59 killed, 527 injured in Vegas shooting
The shooting happened across the street from a country music festival.
2:45
People in the crowd hunkered down as the shots rang out, and begin running again when they stopped, Mullen said. The crowd would then stop again as the gunshots resumed, he said.
From his vantage point, it wasn't clear where the shots were coming from, Mullen said. But his colleagues who were staying on the 32nd floor texted him when they heard the SWAT team arrive, so he knew that something was going on at the hotel, he said.
Mullen said he could see sheriff's officers walking through the hall with guns drawn through the peephole in his hotel room door. He could also see a police helicopter flying very close to the hotel and shining a light near the shooter's room, he said.
Videos filmed by onlookers gave a window into the chaos that ensued as the gunfire rang out, with some thinking that fireworks were going off.
Witness Brian Claypool, who was sitting in a VIP area near the near the stage, said on \"Good Morning America\" on Monday that after the first round of gunfire, he ran into a little room that he described as a production area.
\"The hardest for me was, I saw six young women. They were maybe 20, 22. They were all crying on the ground. I was trying to be calm,\" Claypool said, appearing emotional.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/las-vegas-shooting-graphic-ap-ps-171002_4x3_384.jpg\")
\"I thought [about] the Orlando shooting,\" he said of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting that left 49 people dead. \"Because we were in this room. We didn’t know where the shooter was. We thought he was going to jump the fence and come in this room and shoot us all... I’m thinking, 'Am I going to die in this room?'\"
Claypool said he tried to bring comfort to the young women who were sheltering in the room with him.
\"I said to myself, 'These girls aren’t going to die. I’m not going to die,'” he said. “'I need to get home to see my daughter. This is not happening.'\"
\"Then the shooting stopped,\" Claypool said, \"And I peeked out the front of the door ... police officers scream, ‘Go! Go!’\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/las-vegas-shooting-wheelchair-gty-ps-171002_4x3t_384.jpg\")
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Concertgoer Mike Cronk told ABC News that as Aldean was playing, it \"kind of sounded like some fireworks going off. I think there was the first kind of volley, and then all of the sudden second volley. My buddy's like, 'I just got hit, you know.' He got hit three times. Then people started diving for the ground.
\"It was pretty much chaotic,\" Cronk continued. \"Lots of people got hit.\"
Cronk said EMTs and ex-military members hunkered down to help his friend and other victims survive. Cronk said he started to staunch his friend's bullet wounds under the direction of a woman who was with them.
Stabilizing his friend as best he could, Cronk said he and four other people tending to the wounded attempted to get to a hospital by hopping into the bed of a pickup truck.
Cronk was beside himself with emotion as he described helping a badly injured man into an ambulance. The man ended up dying in Cronk's arms.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/las-vegas-shooting-crowd-gty-ps-171002_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Jasmine Barbusca, a mother of two, told ABC News, \"All you heard were just gunshots. And every time the gunshots would come down, you just start getting to the ground. And when they would stop, you get up and you just try to climb the fence again. We finally made it over. We were running through the parking lot; everybody just ran through the streets.\"
She said she was thinking, \"'I got to get out, I’m going to be dead in five seconds.'\"
Photos: Looking back at the Las Vegas mass shooting
\"There were men going over their wives, their girlfriends, to block them,\" she recalled. \"Unfortunately, those men got shot, but I mean, there were lives saved.\"
Barbusca said she saw one man as he helped many women climb the fence to escape.
\"I don’t know who the man was, but there was a man who probably saved a good 20 women’s lives. He was really brave,\" she said.
Tearing up, she said, \"How I did not get shot... by the grace of God. I honestly... we ran. I don’t know.\"
By Monday afternoon, investigators had finished processing the hotel room at Mandalay Bay, the location of the music festival and Paddock's home in Mesquite, and SWAT officers were standing by another house in northern Nevada, Lombardo said.
Authorities found 19 additional firearms, explosive and some 1,000 rounds of ammunition at the Mesquite home, Lombardo said.
Police confirmed this evening that that they found several pounds of ammonium nitrate -- a material used to make explosives -- inside the suspect’s car.
Agents for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have responded to the scene and the FBI is assisting with the investigation. ATF said it is \"conducting an urgent trace\" on the recovered weapons.
Fasulo refuted rumors of a second shooter, saying there is \"no information or evidence\" to suggest that more than one shooter was involved. There is no ongoing threat to the Las Vegas area, he added.
Officials praised first responders, doctors and community members in the wake of the mass shooting.
Congresswoman Dina Titus, who represents the 1st district of Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, citing acts of heroism by community members and off-duty police officers during the attack and medical personnel caring for people in the parking lots of the overcrowded hospitals. Titus added that a friend of one of staff members was trampled, and a stranger pulled her up and took her to safety.
\"Las Vegas is resilient,\" Titus said. \"With everybody pulling together, we will get through this.\"
Lombardo said he was \"very proud\" of what the officers on the scene did, saying that while they train for active shooter situations, \"this is different than anything you train for because the active shooter is unreachable.\"
A total of 108 firefighters from four different fire departments were on the scene, as well as several ambulances from private companies, Cassell said. People on the scene \"rallied everything they could\" to get the injured to the staging area, including vans and pickup trucks, Cassell said.
So many people have donated blood that officials informed the public not to go to the donation centers until at least Tuesday afternoon, saying that they have \"enough supply for the foreseeable future.\"
Mandalay Bay Resort also thanked area first responders, tweeting, \"Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims of last night's tragic events. We’re grateful for the immediate actions of our first responders.\"
Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims of last night's tragic events. We’re grateful for the immediate actions of our first responders. pic.twitter.com/Arf8edj1iZ
— Mandalay Bay Resort (@MandalayBay) October 2, 2017
Officials set up a family assistance center at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where family members can provide information about the identities of loved ones so authorities can identify the victims \"as fast as possible,\" Fudenberg said. The center is the best way for locals to get assistance, Fasulo said.
Police said family and friends looking for their loved ones can call 1-800-536-9488.
Area hotels, including MGM Resorts International, are coordinating rooms at no cost for families coming into town, and the American Red Cross established headquarters at the Circus Circus Hotel & Resort, Fasulo said.
A GoFundMe account started by Lombardo and Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak to help victims and their families pay for funeral and travel expenses received nearly $2.4 million in donations by Monday evening. One donor alone pledged $400,000, Sisolak said.
Multiple vigils will be held in the Las Vegas Monday afternoon.
President Donald Trump addressed the public this morning, calling the shooting \"an act of pure evil.\"
Trump said he will visit Las Vegas Wednesday to meet with law enforcement, first responders and victims' families.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/Las-Vegas-Shooting-police-ap-ps-171002_4x3t_384.jpg\")
\"In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one,\" Trump said.
He added, \"In memory of the fallen, I have directed that our great flag be flown at half staff.\"
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement, \"The investigation into the horrific shooting last night in Las Vegas is ongoing.\"
“To the many families whose lives have been changed forever by this heinous act, we offer you our prayers and our promise that we will do everything in our power to get justice for your loved ones,\" Sessions said.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said at a news conference, \"I don't know if I have words to describe what we are going through. ... We are angry, we are grieving, we are confused. People are hurting.\"
\"To the people at the concert, you see courage and compassion there,\" Sandoval said . \"People helping total strangers. Risking their own lives to help people. That really speaks highly to the character of America. \"
Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt said at a news conference, \"When you see one of these men and women who are wearing a badge, tell them, 'Thank you.' Their selfless actions saved the lives of hundreds of people. Not a dozen, but hundreds of people. This death count would have been many hundred more were it not for [their] brave work.\"
Aldean, who performed at the country concert Sunday night, wrote on Instagram, \"Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night.\"
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