"People were just dropping to the ground", said a concertgoer.
ADVERTISEMENTAt least 50 people were killed and 406 were injured after a shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas.
A suspect named Stephen Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of a neighbouring hotel, causing many concertgoers to panic.
Witness Megan Kearney told NBC News she first heard what sounded like “firecrackers going off”.
The noise suddenly evolved into machine gun shots.
“People started screaming that they were hit… When we started running out there were probably a couple hundred [people] on the ground,” she said.
“People kept dropping and dropping… People were getting shot one foot away from us.”
Kearney said many were trying to save their friends as gunshots were fired “everywhere”.
Jon Besette also described what happened on stage when gunshots were heard: “The band ran off stage and it was pandemonium,” he said.
“Everyone was running, people were getting trampled,” Besette recalled.
American country star Jason Aldean was performing when the shooting started.
Country music star Jake Owen, who was also performing that night, said panic lasted a while: “It wasn’t something that was quick. It was chaos for a pure seven to ten minutes.”
Owen recalled walking past people who were covered in blood as he made his way towards his bus for protection.
By the time he got to his vehicle, the gunfire still hadn’t stopped.
“It got faster and faster, almost like it was an automatic rifle,” Owen said.
One concert-goer, Sean, recalled the moment everyone on stage “started running everywhere”.
“It wasn’t until the second round of shots that people realized what was going on and the band stopped playing.
“After the second round… everybody hit the ground around us,” he continued.
“It seemed like people were hit everywhere,” Steve Smith, a 45-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona, said.
ADVERTISEMENT“It sounded like fireworks. People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on.
“Probably 100 shots at a time. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again.”
Mike McGarry, a 53-year old financial adviser from Philadelphia, was shocked with the number of young people hurt: “It was crazy – I laid on top of the kids. They’re 20. I’m 53. I lived a good life.”