On October 1st, sixty-four year old Stephen Paddock, opened fire on a crowd of twenty-two thousand people enjoying an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas. The shots started at 10:05 PM and lasted for ten minutes. Paddock shot from his hotel room on the 32nd-floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort before being found dead in his room at 11:20 PM. Police found twenty-three weapons inside of the suite, including twelve rifles with a bump-fire stock. This bump-fire stock enabled Paddock to shoot much more rapidly, more like an automatic rifle, which is banned in the United States. Usually, a shooter’s motive becomes clear in the next few days after the shooting, but Paddock’s motive for taking aim on thousands of people is unclear, and being looked into by authorities such as the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
This shooting is now the deadliest mass shooting in modern US History. Fifty-eight people died, while estimates of five hundred people were wounded. According to CNN, one of the people who died was a man shielding his wife from gunfire on their wedding anniversary. Another casualty was a city of Las Vegas employee who died in his boyfriend’s arms. Other victims include a veteran corrections officer and his girlfriend who died during the trip they had planned for weeks. These are only four of the nearly sixty innocent people who lost their lives during this attack.
Governor of Nevada, Brian Sandoval, released a statement saying, “My heart and prayers go the victims and their families and friends who were brutally killed and injured by a shocking and cowardly act of senseless violence. This tragic and vicious attack on innocent people has claimed the lives of our fellow Americans and devastated hundreds of others who were simply enjoying a country music festival.”
Jason Aldean, the country singer who was on stage when the shooting happened, took to Saturday Night Live to pay tribute. Instead of the show’s usual sketch to start off the show, Aldean said a few words and also paid tribute by playing “I Won’t Back Down” by late hall of famer Tom Petty. “So many people are hurting. They’re our children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends — they’re all part of our family. So I want to say to them: We hurt for you, and we hurt with you. But you can be sure that we’re going to walk through these tough times together, every step of the way. Because when America is at its best, our bond, and our spirit — it’s unbreakable,” Aldean said before his moving tribute.