At least two people were killed and multiple others were injured in a shooting near the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday, police said.
The Las Vegas Police Department said that “one suspect is down” and they did not believe there were any more shooters, according to the department’s Twitter account.
As ambulances and other first responders swarmed in to help, the gleaming Las Vegas strip shut down. Tourists hid in their hotel rooms. Flights headed into the McCarran International Airport airport were held elsewhere.
As bursts of gunfire crackled in the air, people outside of the casino ducked and screamed.
“We’re going to get trampled if we don’t go,” a bystander could be heard saying in a dramatic video of the incident. Confusion appeared to abound as those outside fled the scene with another person saying “it’s fireworks.”
One witness, Jake Freeman, said he was standing on the rooftop of a nearby hotel when the shooting broke out.
“I had a bird’s-eye view” of the shooting, Freeman said in a phone interview with ABC News. He said he saw “crowds of people running” as people “dropped to the ground.”
“At the moment we didn’t realize that they were being shot,” he said.
Officials at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas told ABC News that it had at least 20 victims with gunshot wounds, with the number expected to grow. The hospital did not provide information on the victims’ conditions.
“Please avoid heading to the south end of the Strip,” the department said in a Twitter post early Monday. “Las Vegas Blvd is shut down at Tropicana, southbound past Russell Rd at this time.”
The final night of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival was taking place across the street from Mandalay Bay when the shooting took place. One witness said they heard “nonstop gunfire.”
The Las Vegas Police Department said people should avoid the area. Flights in and out of the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas were temporarily halted due to the incident.
“Pray for Las Vegas. Thank you to all our first responders out there now,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman said via Twitter.
GMA
