Las Vegas Police provide update on mass shooting incident 

Last night (October 2) Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police (LVMPD) provided an update on the shooting of concertgoers in Las Vegas, in which 59 people died and 527 were injured.



Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo speaking at a press conference

Gunman Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel towards the open-air music festival on Sunday evening. He was later found dead after police stormed his hotel room. Fasulo told reporters that police recovered 23 firearms from his room.

Paddock lived in a community of senior citizens in the small town of Mesquite, north-east of Las Vegas. Nineteen more weapons were recovered at his home.

He reportedly lived with a woman called Marilou Danley who is out of the country in Japan, and does not appear to be involved, police said. It is reported that Paddock used Danley’s ID at the hotel.

Fasulo emphasised that the police consider Paddock to be “solely responsible” for this crime, dispelling rumours in the media and on social media that there was more than one assailant. “We have no information or evidence to support that theory or rumour,” he said.


A convoy of three city buses passing through a police road block on south Las Vegas Boulevard to transport stranded people at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas (image: James Atoa/Alamy)

Security restrictions were placed on the Mandalay Bay and other MGM hotels in the area. Fasulo said that police were co-ordinating with local hotels and the venue and would provide more information once they were close to clearing the scene. The Family Assistance Center & Family Reunification Center is now open at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Exhibit Hall S-2 and Fasulo emphasised that people from the area trying to trace family and friends should visit the assistance centre in person.

MGM Resorts were co-ordinating rooms at the Belaggio for families of the victims, as well as air travel via Southwest airlines. MGM Resorts were also organising counsellors for vendors, employees and guests. The American Red Cross has set up at the Circus Circus resort.

Fasulo told reporters that there had been an “overwhelming turnout” of people wishing to donate blood, but that hospitals had enough supplies. He also said that people had been donating food, pointing out that the LVMPD does not have facilities to store food and directing donations of bottled water and sealed food towards the Red Cross.

“We have had a remarkable amount of support from the community,” he said. “We have had people asking how they can help.” He encouraged people to donate via a GoFundMe page set up to show support to the victims.