Las Vegas Shooting: Gunman May Have Been Planning Massive Explosion

LAS VEGAS, NV – A 64-year-old man, whose shooting spree in Las Vegas killed at least 59 people and injured more than 500 others, may have been intent on causing even more death and misery. A search of the gunman's car turned up several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound that was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.

The gunman's hotel room was full of 23 firearms – some of them high-powered automatic weapons – when he opened fire Sunday night from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino at a crowd gathered below for a music festival, police said. In the span of minutes, it became the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. More weapons were found in his home.

As police closed in on him, officials said, the gunman killed himself. Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo identified the shooter as Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada. At the concert venue outside the hotel, mayhem unfolded as concertgoers panicked and fled for safety and bullets tore through the crowd.

Brianna Taylor of Orange County and her fiancé were near the front of the stage, enjoying the concert. At first she thought the gunshots were fireworks. Then as people were shot and the chaos began, she knew what was happening, according to a FoxLA report.

"We just stayed as low as we could for a while," Taylor said. "(But) as soon as they said they needed medics, we knew we were sitting ducks. I said 'Babe, this can't be how we die, this can't be how we go.' So we just got up and ran behind the stage and got out," eventually hiding with about 200 other people in a helicopter rental company."

Couples held hands as they ran through the dirt lot. Faces were etched with shock and confusion, and people wept and screamed. Some were bloodied, and some were carried out by fellow concertgoers. Dozens of ambulances took away the wounded, while some people loaded victims into their cars and drove them to the hospital.

Many of the dead are from Southern California, a quick drive from Las Vegas. Jennifer Irvine, an attorney from San Diego, lost her life. A colleague described her as "a kind, generous, and beautiful lady." The small beach community of Manhattan Beach lost two public servants, a school teacher and a police department employee. Also among the dead is 2015 high school graduate, Angela Gomez from Riverside County.

A wife and mother from Massachusetts is counted among the dead. Rhonda LeRocque of Tewksbury "set a fine example for many people," according to a member of her church.

Officials declared a state of emergency in Vegas' Clark County on Monday afternoon in the wake of the chaos. In the declaration, the county manager acknowledged that a "significant number of community resources in public safety, public health, health care, and emergency management have been expended and will continue for weeks to come." and said that potential threats to the county's residents persist. Other officials assured that the city was safe.

President Trump called the shooting "an act of pure evil" in a morning address to the nation. He commended the Las Vegas police for being able to find and stop the shooter quickly, calling the work of first responders "miraculous."

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"Hundreds of our fellow citizens are now mourning the loss of a loved one," he said. "We cannot fathom their pain or imagine their loss."

Trump will travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday. He ordered the flags at government buildings to fly at half-staff.

The shooting began at 10:08 p.m. local time Sunday. More than 22,000 people had gathered at a 15-acre lot across from the Mandalay Bay for the final night of the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival.

Country star Jason Aldean was on stage and had been performing for about 20 minutes when shots rang out. The initial barrage lasted for about 30 seconds, and then there was a pause before the shooting started again. Concertgoers panicked and climbed over each other, running for safety as people standing next to them were shot.

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"I thought it was like bottle rockets going off," Seth Bayles of West Hollywood, California, told the Los Angeles Times. "Then we saw people dropping. We saw someone get hit and then we started running."

Aldean and his crew were unharmed in the shooting. He posted on Instagram hours after the incident, calling it "beyond horrific." The country star has not yet announced whether he will perform at three scheduled shows in Southern California this week.

Jake Owen was also onstage at the time and told CNN this morning that he and other performers heard the gunshots, fled the stage and went to their nearby tour bus.

"It was just chaos," Owen said. "People just started scrambling." The shooting continued for about 10 minutes, he said.

Trump: Las Vegas Shooting An 'Act Of Pure Evil'

As the gunman unloaded his arsenal on the crowd below him, police pinpointed his location as a hotel room on the 32nd floor and rushed to it. Using explosives, they blasted through the door. Paddock rented two rooms in the hotel, one facing north and the other facing east, according to a report by the Nevada Independent.

Guns and Guitars, Inc., which had sold firearms to the Las Vegas shooter, issued a statement to CNN's Elizabeth Landers.

"We mourn for this tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the lost and injured," it said. "Mr. Paddock was a customer and purchased firearms from our store; however, all necessary background checks and procedures were followed, as required by local, state and federal law. He never gave any indication or reason to believe he was unstable or unfit at any time."

The store added that it will work with authorities as investigations continue.

Sheriff Lombardo said investigators believe Paddock acted alone in the shooting. At least two of Lombardo's deputies were shot. One of them is in critical condition and the other suffered a non-life threatening injury. He added that an off-duty officer at the concert was killed.

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Lombardo said Paddock had killed himself before officers entered the hotel room. He added that, aside from a few traffic violations, Paddock hasn't previously found himself on the wrong side of the law.

Among the first victims identified in the massacre is Sonny Melton, a 29-year-old nurse at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, who attended the concert with his wife, Heather Gulish Melton. His wife wrote on Facebook that she lost her “true love and knight in shining armor." The couple had been married just more than a year, according to White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, who recounted the bravery of many of the night's victims during her daily briefing on Monday.

Other victims of the tragedy had traveled to Vegas from around the country, and some even came in from Canada.

Sanders struggled to speak the following words as her voice filled with emotion: "The memory of those who displayed the ultimate expression of love, in the midst of an unimaginable act of hate, will never fade."

Asked whether the shooting might have changed President Trump's views on gun control, she said it was "premature to discuss policy when we don’t know all the facts.”

The incident's death toll and the number of wounded surpassed the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016. The Pulse shooter killed 49 people and injured 58 that night, which at the time was the nation's worst mass shooting ever.

Police on Monday searched Paddock's home in Mesquite for possible clues to what led him to go on the shooting spree, according to a report from CNN. Paddock was a licensed pilot and a hunter. During a press conference from Mesquite, police said they found nothing unusual in their initial searches of Paddock's home.

Paddock's Brother: No Logic To Explain The Shooting

Paddock's brother, Eric Paddock, said he was "dumbfounded" when he heard reports of what had happened.

"We’re shocked. When you get a phone call that says your brother just killed a bunch of people. We’re shocked, horrified, completely dumbfounded," said Eric Paddock, who spoke to reporters from his home in Central Florida. He said his brother had some guns but never a machine gun or an automatic weapon.

"He's never even drawn his gun before," Eric Paddock said. "He's just a guy.”

The shooter was a multimillionaire and real estate investor, according to his brother. He said the shooter was a big spender at casinos and often received free rooms and meals from the casinos.

Stephen Paddock was the son of Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, a bank robber who escaped from jail and was once on the FBI’s most-wanted list, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The elder Paddock was removed from the list in 1977 and arrested in 1978.

At Least 50 Dead, 200 Injured After Las Vegas Concert Shooting

Officials discussed the shooting during a press conference on Monday morning. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said that two of his assistant prosecutors attended the concert and were shaken by the massacre. Of the shooting, "This is a weapon and a man of mass destruction," Wolfson said.

Authorities, meanwhile, were looking into whether this attack was terror-related. The terrorist group ISIS reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. The FBI, however, says the shooter had no connection to an international terrorist group.

Map by Kristin Borden/Patch

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The FBI and Department of Homeland Security both sent agents and officers to assist in the investigation. Officials on Monday said they believed there was not a threat to other concert venues.

Facebook has activated a crisis response page for people to check in and let family and friends know that they are safe. The Las Vegas police also encouraged family members looking for their loved ones to call for assistance.

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Police originally believed there might have been more than one shooter because of the large number of calls from other hotels reporting active shooters, none of which appear to have been accurate. Las Vegas police say they are still investigating all of the reports.

In the aftermath, a massive emergency response was deployed to the area to collect the wounded. One officer said he was bringing five patients in critical condition to Sunrise Hospital. Witnesses reported that people climbed into passing trucks and volunteers delivered them to local hospitals. University Medical Center's Trauma Center quickly reached capacity, and emergency units were urged to take patients to other hospitals.

Support quickly began pouring in for the victims and the relief effort. The NFL Foundation and the Oakland Raiders each said they would donate $50,000 to the victims; UFC President Dana White said the organization would donate $1 million. County officials said they were overwhelmed by the amount of donations and offers to help flowing in.

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air will fly families of the shooting victims to Las Vegas for free.

Meanwhile, most major airlines are allowing travelers with reservations to and from Las Vegas to cancel or change them without paying fees. Most are allowing the free changes through Tuesday, while United is waiving fees through Friday.

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Las Vegas celebrities shared their heartbreak and horror in response to the shooting.

Meanwhile, Mandalay Bay released a statement saying, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of last night's tragic events. We're grateful for the immediate actions of our first responders."

This is a breaking news story.

Jeff Stacklin, Cody Fenwick, Bea Karnes and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Lead photo by Ronda Churchill/AP; Photos via AP Photo/John Locher