Mass shooting at music festival on the Las Vegas strip
A gunman opened fire during a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night — shooting multiple people with a high-powered assault rifle before fleeing the scene, according to reports.
At least 24 people were shot, including two fatally, according to Reuters.
Las Vegas police responded to the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino at around 10 p.m. after receiving calls about an active shooter targeting concertgoers at the Route 91 country music fest.
About an hour later police confirmed at least one suspect is down.
“This is an active investigation,” they added.
Cops were urging people to avoid the area as SWAT teams searched for the gunman.
Witnesses reported seeing a police officer down, but authorities couldn’t immediately confirm this. University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said the local hospital had taken in “several” people with gunshot wounds. She didn’t offer any more details. One Las Vegas hospital reported treating at least 20 victims with gunshot wounds, according to KABC.
Professional poker player and Instagram star Dan Bilzerian, who was at the concert, said on his IG storythat he saw the shooting unfold and witnessed a girl getting shot right in front of him.
“Holy f–k this girl just got shot in the f–king head,” Bilzerian said.“So f–king crazy…So I had to go grab a gun, I’m f–king heading back…Some kind of mass shooting…Guy had a heavy caliber weapon for sure…Saw a girl f–king get shot in the face right next to me, her brains f–king hanging out.”
Another witness, who spoke to News3LV, recalled how “bullets were flying everywhere” and concertgoers were running.
“They were firing from somewhere high and they were unloading clip after clip after clip after clip,” the man said.
A female concertgoer added, “we all got on the floor, crawling out, rushing.”
Witnesses reported seeing muzzle flashes coming from the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay casino — across from where the convert venue was — and the sound of automatic gunfire.
http://nypost.com/2017/10/02/active-shooter-situation-breaks-out-near-las-vegas-casino-cops/
|