Gunman kills 59 people at concert in Las Vegas, 527 others injured By Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff on 10.03.17 Word Count 664 Level 810L Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo (left) gives the grim toll of Sunday's mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada: 59 dead and 527 wounded. He spoke on Monday, October 2, 2017. Photo by: Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images LAS VEGAS, Nevada On Sunday night, a gunman in Las Vegas killed 59 people and wounded 527 others, authorities said. It was the deadliest mass shooting in recent U.S. history. More than 22,000 people were gathered that night at a country music festival. The gunman sat at the window of a hotel building near the festival. He started shooting people below. The crowd of people screamed and ran for their lives, officials said. The injured were taken to the hospital, city officials said. Who Was The Shooter? Police teams entered the gunman's hotel room. Officials said the gunman, who was dead, had as many as 10 guns with him, including rifles. There was no immediate word on why he planned the attack. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1
Police believe he acted alone. The U.S. government said no other public areas were specifically in danger in the U.S. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing Sunday night at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. The gunman opened fire from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street. The gunman was identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old from Mesquite, Nevada, which is about 80 miles from Las Vegas. He had checked into the hotel room on Thursday, officials said. Officials Investigate, Ask For Blood Donations Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo said police are studying evidence to make sure the community is safe. Las Vegas city officials asked for people to donate blood to victims. Aldean was in the middle of a song when the shots came quickly. A loud pop-pop-pop-pop was heard. Video from the concert showed that Aldean stopped playing. The crowd got quiet as if it were unsure of what had happened. The gunman paused and then fired another stream of bullets, and its flashes could be seen from the casino. Many victims fell to the ground while others ran in panic. Some hid behind food stands, while others crawled under parked cars. Loud Pops And Bright Flashes Thirty-six-year-old Kodiak Yazzie said the music stopped temporarily when the first shots began. The song started up again. Then, the second round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage. "It was the craziest stuff I've ever seen in my entire life," Yazzie said. "You could hear that the noise was coming from... Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash, flash, flash, flash." Couples held hands as they ran through the dirt lot. People wept and screamed. Some were bloodied. Dozens of ambulances took away the wounded. Some people loaded victims into their cars and drove them to the hospital. Police shut down busy Las Vegas Boulevard. Flights at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport were paused. Hospital emergency rooms were jammed with victims. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2
"Beyond Horrific" Shooting At least three off-duty police officers were killed while attending the concert, city officials said. Two on-duty officers were wounded, one seriously, police said. "It's a devastating time," the sheriff said. Hours after the shooting, Aldean announced that he and his crew were safe and that the shooting was "beyond horrific." "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," the country star said. President Donald Trump went on the social media site Twitter before giving a more formal speech. He tweeted: "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Sunday's Shooting Was The Deadliest Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016. Then, a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. The man had expressed support for the Islamic State. The United States is currently fighting the violent group, which has taken over parts of the Middle Eastern countries of Syria and Iraq. Sunday's shooting came more than four months after another concert attack. This one was in Manchester, England at an Ariana Grande concert. It killed 22 people. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3
Quiz 1 Read the paragraph from the section "Loud Pops And Bright Flashes." Police shut down busy Las Vegas Boulevard. Flights at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport were paused. Hospital emergency rooms were jammed with victims. Which of the following is the MOST accurate explanation of this paragraph? Hospitals in Las Vegas asked more nurses and doctors to fly in to help. Police got the facts from people on Las Vegas Boulevard. No one was allowed to travel out of Las Vegas. Several parts of Las Vegas were affected by the attack. 2 Which sentence from the article shows that officials are working to make sure no one else is in danger? Police teams entered the gunman's hotel room. Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo said police are studying evidence to make sure the community is safe. Las Vegas city officials asked for people to donate blood to victims. At least three off-duty police officers were killed while attending the concert, city officials said. 3 Read the paragraph from the section "Beyond Horrific Shooting." President Donald Trump went on the social media site Twitter before giving a more formal speech. He tweeted: "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Which word from the paragraph helps the reader understand the meaning of "condolences"? formal sympathies victims terrible This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4
4 Read the sentence from the section "Sunday's Shooting Was The Deadliest." The man had expressed support for the Islamic State. What is the meaning of the word "expressed" as it is used in the sentence above? shown rushed transferred collected This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 5