At least 58 people were killed and 489 injured in the Las Vegas shooting
What happened?
ADVERTISEMENTIt was after 10pm on Sunday and Jason Aldean was coming to the end of his set at a country music extravaganza in Las Vegas.
Revellers heard what they thought were fireworks. It was only when people started dropping to the ground they realised it was something far more sinister.
Suddenly the music fell silent as Aldean and his crew rushed off stage. The noise of fear and pandemonium took over.
High above them, suspect Stephen Paddock, 64, was spraying bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.
Mayhem ensued among the 22,000-strong crowd at Route 91 Harvest as they ran for cover or the exits.
Those at the edges of the crowd fled as quickly as they could, but many were trampled on or hurt jumping over fences while the shooting went on for some 10 minutes.
People sought refuge in cars, buses or just kept on running in the hope of surviving what would later become the US’ worst mass shooting.
Seventy-two minutes after the first 911 call, police stormed the luxury suite Paddock was staying in.
They found the suspect lying dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, surrounded by his arsenal, including 23 firearms.
Paddock has set up a number of cameras around his hotel suite and fitted so-called “bump-stocks” to 12 guns, allowing them to mimic fully automatic gunfire.
US officials have discounted a claim of responsibility by the Islamic State militant group.
How many people died?
At least 58 people were killed (59 including Paddock) and 489 injured, according to the latest casualty numbers released by authorities. You can read more about the victims of the massacre here.
What do we know about the gunman?
Police identified the suspected gunman as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock from Mesquite, Nevada.
The shooter had no criminal record and was not believed to be connected to any militant group, officers said.
Sheriff Joseph Lombardo has speculated that Paddock had some help, citing the arsenal of high-powered weaponry he amassed.
Paddock left no immediate hint of his motive, and seemed atypical of the overtly troubled, angry young men who experts said have come to embody the profile of most mass shooters.
Public records on Paddock point to an itinerant existence across the U.S. West and Southeast, including stints as an apartment manager and aerospace industry worker. But Paddock appeared to be settling in to a quiet life when he bought a home in a Nevada retirement community a few years ago, about an hour’s drive from Las Vegas and the casinos he enjoyed.
His brother, Eric, described Stephen Paddock as financially well-off and an enthusiast of video poker games and cruises.
ADVERTISEMENTHis girlfriend, Marilou Danley, said she had no idea what he was plotting.