AT least 20 people are dead and more than 100 wounded after a guman sprayed thousands of bullets into music festival crowds from a Las Vegas hotel balcony.
Horrifying video shows blood-soaked crowds running in terror from the Route 91 country music festival as hundreds of rounds were fired from a nearby Mandalay Bay Resort Casino balcony.
Over a period of at least a minute, at least four separate periods of sustained gunfire were heard as hundreds of rounds were unleashed into the crowd, which included children.
Festival-goers were seen diving for cover as bullets whizzed overhead, with traumatised witnesses claiming they saw victims being hit in the head.
Bullets whizzing through the venue would have created an echo effect, only adding to the terror and confusion as people struggled to escape.
The suspected shooter, a local individual, was killed on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort after armed cops stormed the hotel room.
Police are now searching for a woman, Marilou Danley, an Asian woman approximately 4ft 11in, who was the roommate of the shooter and who had been travelling with him.
Two vehicles registered to the suspect are also being searched for with Sheriff Joe Lombardo saying the man involved was believed to be a “lone wolf”.
Videos taken at the scene appear to capture bursts of gunfire heard in the area, with the 40,000 concert-goers ducking for cover and running for their lives.
Two police officers were among those shot during the concert.
Social media star Dan Bilzerian shared a video of himself running from the scene, with the terrified man heard saying: “Holy f*** this girl just got shot in the f*ing head. This is so fking crazy.”
Other witnesses told Sky News it was an “ugly scene”, with one woman shot in the top of the head.
One concert-goer said he heard what sounded like fireworks while he was watching Jason Aldean’s performance at the three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival Sunday night.
Kodiak Yazzi, 36, said the music stopped temporarily and started up again before another round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage.
He said he saw flashes of light coming from the Mandalay Bay hotel tower high above.
The bursts of pops would start and stop for more than five minutes.
Armed cops duck behind a car as they respond to the shooting
A man lies on the ground, covered in blood after the shooting
People duck for cover, with videos capturing what appears to be gunshots
Armed cops duck behind a car as they respond to the shootingA man lies on the ground, covered in blood after the shootingPeople duck for cover, with videos capturing what appears to be gunshots
He said he saw dozens of ambulances as he ran for safety. He later got a Lyft driver to take him home to suburban Henderson.
Another witness said it was “mass chaos”, saying they had at first thought the sound was fireworks but realised it was something even more terrifying.
One witness told Sky News she had heard a woman telling crowds they were “going to die”, adding that the woman had been escorted out of the concert before it began.
One woman told KSNV: “It didn’t sound normal, it sounded like machine guns and it was like several rounds, it was like hundreds of rounds.
“My boyfriend had me move behind a building here because it just didn’t sound right.
“And then we hid behind a building and we could just hear hundreds of rounds going off and then about 10 minutes later the police came and just blocked off all the streets.”
A man holds a terrified woman in his arms as they duck for cover
Panicked crowds were forced to flee the scene
Scenes of chaos have unfolded in Las Vegas
Two people hold each other as the terror unfolded on Sunday night in Las Vegas
People took cover after the Route 91 Country Music Festival descended into chaos
Concert-goers described how they initially thought the gunshots were fireworks or a problem with equipment near the stage.
Two unnamed witnesses were in a VIP area the furthest from the Mandalay Bay Hotel.
The man said: “It was clip after clip after clip, bullets were flying everywhere, everybody running. It was really, really bad.
“We were the furthest VIP stage away from Mandalay Bay and they were ricocheting everywhere where we were.
“They were firing from somewhere high and they were unloading clip after clip after clip.”
He said he was convinced many gunmen were involved, adding: “Everyone is still running scared. The back streets are all full of people trying to hide out.
“It sounded like a firecracker then it ended up not sounding like a firecracker at all.”
Asked if they had seen any casualties, a woman with him said: “We just saw one drive by right now getting CPR.
“There were bullets ricocheting down by our feet because we all got down on the floor, crawling out, rushing out.
“I thought it was technical, like something wrong with the stage, and then it started happening again and that’s when everyone started rushing out.”
Another country music fan at the concert said he dragged injured people out of the concert – unless they were clearly dead.
Asked how he felt, he said: “Heartbroken. Just anybody I have met tonight I have told them that I’m an American and that we are brothers just because we are American tonight.
“We wanted to save everybody.”
Another man said someone had died in his arms as he desperately fought to get him medical attention. His friend was hit three times in the chest but will be OK.
They hid under the stage for a while as it was the only place not being sprayed with bullets.
He said: “It kinda sounded like some fireworks going off. “And then there was the first volley and all of a sudden a second volley and my buddy said ‘I just got hit’.
“He got hit three times and people started diving for the ground and it just continued. It was pretty much chaotic.
“Lots of people got hit. Lots of people were getting….it took a while to get him out.
“We had to get him over the fence and hiding under the stage for a while, you know, to be safe.. Finally we had to move as he had three chest wounds.
“We got four people in the back of the truck but we got turned around because there was an active shooter.
“We finally got an ambulance right across the street here, got two of the guys in.
“Basically the one guy ended up dying in my arms because he was bleeding.”
Terrified witnesses said they saw people being shot in horrific scenes
Luxor hotel, next door to the shooting, is reportedly now on alert after a van parked outside sparked a bomb threat.
Local media reported that many people had run into the nearby airport for cover.
Planes were grounded at the McCarran International Airport after the deadly shooting, with flights restarting several hours later.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department asked people to avoid the southend of the Strip, saying parts had been shut down as they investigated reports of an active shooter.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sgt. Jeff Clark told reporters at the scene: “We do have one suspect down, and we want people to steer clear of the area.”
Officer Aden Ocampo-Gomez says deputies are heading to the scene Sunday near Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.
Local police said: “We’re investigating reports of an active shooter near/around Mandalay Bay Casino. Asking everyone to please avoid the area.”
They added that they had closed a freeway.
Facebook has activated a crisis response page for people to ensure their loved ones are safe.
