More than 50 people were killed and at least 200 others injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay hotel and resort on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said.
Police released the updated death toll in the early morning hours after a horrific night of violence that turned a concert into a scene of carnage. While initial reports put the death toll at 20, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police tweeted later that at least 50 were dead.
Police said the suspect, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, Nev., was killed after a SWAT team burst into the hotel room from which he was firing at the crowd.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo said: “Right now we believe it’s a solo act, a lone wolf attacker. We are pretty confident there is no longer a threat.”
Authorities said the gunman appeared to have begun firing at 10:08 p.m. from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel toward the concert venue across the street.
Police said they have succeeded in locating a woman, identified as Marilou Danley, who was believed to be traveling with Paddock and is listed as living at his address in Mesquite, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. “We are confident we have located the female person of interest,” the department said on Twitter.
Mesquite authorities there secured a search warrant for the suspect’s home, and found several rifles in the suspect’s room, said Mesquite Police officer Quinn Averett, a spokesman for the department. About 10 Mesquite officers were at the home early Monday morning holding a perimeter, he said.
Two of the dead may include a pair of off-duty police officers who were attending the concert, Lombardo said, and it appeared that one of the officers shot was from Bakersfield.
