The Saddest Las Vegas Story

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Over the years, you may have heard a lot of crazy stories about Las Vegas. Some of them are outrageously shocking, while others are just ridiculous. But one managed to penetrate deep in our memory and left everyone brokenhearted.

The Las Vegas mass shooting happened on a warm Sunday night back in 2017, and until this day, it remains the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

This event shook the world, and sad memories still linger among those who remember that night and those who lost their loved ones.

There is no way we can either forget or dismiss this great tragedy, as lessons are yet to be learned, and measures are yet to be taken not to let this horror happen ever again.

How It Unfolded

Scene: Las Vegas strip, 10 pm, the final night of the Harvest music festival; Jason Aldean performing his last song; people cheering and dancing to the country music. Fifteen minutes later: massive havoc, panic and people lying on the ground amid plastic cups and bottles left in an attempt to flee. What happened in a period of 10 minutes became a life-changing experience for those present at the scene.

Somewhat around 10:05, a local photographer, David Becker, who was there to capture the course of events at the festival, heard distant popping sounds. At that time, he was standing in his tent going through the photos he took during the last couple of songs. On hearing these strange noises, he left the tent to check what was going on. Someone outside told him that the popping sounds were just some firecrackers, and he went back and continued to browse through the photos. Then, the sounds repeated, but Becker was told those were the sounds of a bad speaker. Only when people started shouting and running in all directions seeking shelter did Becker understand that something way more serious was taking place right before his eyes.

He took his camera and went to the epicenter of the event. It was dark outside, and people were screaming and running around. He saw a couple on the ground: a man who was lying on top of a woman, protecting her with his body.

Backer still didn’t know what was happening; he just walked around taking photos of what was later proclaimed as the Las Vegas massacre and the deadliest mass shooting performed by an individual in the modern history of the US.

The photographer only realized the magnitude of the situation when he saw the photos he took in more detail. When looking at them from the screen of his camera, he noticed the blood on the legs of a woman lying on the ground. She wasn’t playing possum, she had been shot dead, along with 57 other victims.

What We Know About the Shooter

On September 25, Stephen Paddock, 64, checked into a hotel room on the 32nd floor at Mandalay Bay. Later, he also booked a connected room on the same floor. Both of them overlooked the festival site.

His stay at the hotel was deliberately planned and included several steps of massacre preparation. The planning that preceded the event on October 1 was thorough and included choosing an optimal location for the shooting, collecting ammunition like rifles, bump stocks with 100-round magazines, a bolt-action fire and a revolver for his consequent suicide.

Before the shooting occurred, the perpetrator was spotted at the hotel’s casino. He interacted with hotel staff more than ten times, and the employees described him as “normal in nature.”

The report conducted after the shooting revealed that around 1100 rifle rounds were fired into the crowd at a distance of about 490 yards (450m).

Paddock also attempted to hit tanks with kerosene at the nearest airport, firing eight bullets at them. Two bullets managed to penetrate the tanks, but there was no explosion as kerosene is unlikely to ignite when struck with a bullet.

The Aftermath

As a result of the shooting in Las Vegas, 58 people were shot dead and around 900 were hurt: 422 people due to the shooting and the others in crowd jams. All of them were taken to nearby hospitals for immediate treatment. Around 50 percent of wounded victims were transported to facilities by private vehicles as the main route to the event’s location was closed by police officers.

After the incident, the US Congress made a decision to ban bump stocks. Massachusetts became the first state to criminalize the usage, possession and sale of the firearm. Also, a new regulation implies that current owners must destroy or surrender their weapons.

Moreover, the price for the firearm rose immediately after the shooting occurred, just as it has in other mass shooting cases.

The Conclusion

Some people flock to Las Vegas to seek unlimited fun and huge jackpots. Some go there to drink, gamble, and forget about their everyday lives. On October 1, 2017, people were filling up the streets of the city to enjoy their favorite bands and dance to the country music side by side with their friends and family. None of them knew what was waiting for them that night.

The story you’ve read is one of those sad stories about Las Vegas that will never fade away because they serve as a reminder that human life is precious, and we must value every minute spent with our loved ones.

You May Also Want to Know

• What was the perpetrator’s goal?

Stephen Paddock shot himself on the night of the shooting; the police found his body in the room he was staying in. The reason for the shooting was never determined. Officers only found a note with detailed instructions and the trajectory to aim the fire at the right place.

• Was the shooter arrested?

Stephen Paddock was found dead in the hotel room on the night of the incident. He shot himself with a revolver right after he killed 58 people at the concert, firing at them from the high-rise building. He became the 59th dead person connected to the massacre.

• Did the Mandalay Bay hotel owner really file a lawsuit against mass shooting victims?

Yes, the Mandalay Bay hotel owner indeed filed a lawsuit against around 1,000 victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. He did so to avoid liability, and he didn’t look for monetary compensation from the victims.

• Why didn’t the police stop the gunman?

The police who came to the scene of the incident were initially confused about the exact location of the gunman, as there were two buildings from which the shooting could have possibly originated. The gunfire lasted for around ten minutes, so when the officers arrived at the correct building and hotel room, the perpetrator was already dead.