More Than 50 Killed In Deadliest Mass Shooting In US History

Las Vegas: More than 50 people were killed and 200 wounded when a gunman opened fire on a concert in Las Vegas, police said on Monday, making it the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

"We are looking at in excess of 50 individuals dead and of 200 individuals injured at this point," Las Vegas Metro Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said after Sunday night's shooting at a country music concert in the Nevada gambling hub. Lombardo also told a press conference that the gunman, who was killed after armed police responded to the shooting, had been identified as a local man called Stephen Paddock, 64. Police also believed that they had located his female companion.

The shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip killed more than 50 people and wounded dozens. Dozens of patrol vehicles descended on the Strip after authorities received reports of an active shooter near the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across Las Vegas Boulevard from the country music festival and the sound of what they described as automatic gun fire.

Twenty-six people were admitted to the hospital, University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said. Of those, at least two died, 12 were in critical condition and the rest were being evaluated, she said. Witnesses said they saw multiple victims as they fled the gunfire raining down on the concert venue. Some later huddled in the basement of the nearby Tropicana hotel-casino.

Some officers took cover behind their vehicles while others carrying assault rifles ran into the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15.

Some flights destined for the McCarran International Airport were diverted due to the shooting. Witnesses say country singer Jason Aldean was playing near the end of the concert when gunfire began.