outdoor music country festival on the las vegas strip. concertgoers captured the terror as hundreds of gunshots rang out from what sounds like app automatic weapon. here's a moment of that. the breaking news is coming in obviously very fast. it is still an extremely fluid situation in terms of the numbers and the investigation. the las vegas sheriff's department did just confirm that the suspect was killed. the shooter has been identified. he is 64-year-old steven paddock. police say a female companion or roommate called a person of interest. for a while she was missing or they were looking for her along with two vehicles they thought were involved. all of that has been located by police.

the woman is being spoken to by police. and they have found the cars. >> again, this music festival was the route 91 harvest festival next to the mandalay bay resort. it was going on while country music singer jason aldean was performing. the shooting went on and on and on. thousands of spectators running for their lives. our jean cassarez joins with us breaking details. jean? >> reporter: we're here on the south end of the las vegas strip. i want to let you know what i just saw. i saw two ambulances leaving from behind me which is where the mandalay bay s. more importantly, i just saw an ambulance go back into where the crime scene would be. it had its lights on and was traveling at a rapid rate of speed. this crime scene investigation is going to be long. it is going to be protracted.

police said in a press conference that at this very minute a search warrant is being executed at the hotel room of steven paddock. moments from now they said a search warrant would be executed at steven paddock's residence here in las vegas. he is a local person. he is 64 years old. they do believe they have found had his female roommate that they are calling a person of interest. the red cross is assembling because, as the police said, the hospitals are overwhelmed at this point. there are at least 50 dead. they don't have a firm number. there are at least 200 people injured. we do know one police officer remains in critical condition in the hospital. we know as part of that country music concert one off duty las vegas police officer was shot

and killed as he was watching jason aldean perform. red cross is assembling so family members and friends if they do not know where family members are they can come and get assistance to try to find them. university medical center, level one trauma extcenter in las veg. level two also here in las vegas. it was 10:08 at a country music festival by country music superstar in las vegas. that's when shots rang out.

terrifying moments in las vegas after a gunman opens fire at a country music concert. >> people were running out of everywhere. >> everyone said hit the floor. everyone was literally laying on top of each other. >> there were people hiding underneath my car for cover. >> it happened on the final night of the three-day route 91 harvest festival outside the mandalay bay. it unfolded as jason aldean was performing. police say the barrage of bullets were fired from the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay. >> the gunshots lasted 10, 15 minutes. like it didn't stop. >> reporter: knocking frantic concertgoers to their knees. people running for their lives. >> people were climbing the

through the barricades. they were coming down. people screaming, crying, everything trying to come out. >> a man came running up to us with blood all over his shirt saying his friends were dead, his friends were dead, please come and help. >> i have three critical patients in my vehicle. is there anybody to assist us? >> reporter: swarms of people scattering for their lives. >> we can't go yet. >> reporter: this city has virtually been paralyzed since 10:08 last night. the freeway, interstate 15, which is a direct route from california to utah is open for traffic.

mccarron international, the run way is to my left. flights were curtailed. they were not allowed to land. i have seen one land since we have been here. the lasting memory is that family members are in search of their family members this morning not knowing what hospital they may be in, not knowing what condition they may be in. alyson? john? >> to that end, jean, they did put out a number. i will read it right now. maybe cnn "new day" twitter account can tweet this out. 866-535-5654. obviously there's just mass confusion after something as horrific as this. we want to bring in jim and joe who are standing by, our law enforcement experts who have been with us all morning. jim, it's worse than we could have ever imagined. it is the worst mass shoot anything u.s. history. 50 people at least were mowed

down from the window of the mandalay bay, 32nd floor. we know the sheriff confirmed the shooter who was killed, his identity steven paddock, he is 64 years old. we don't know much more else about him. they didn't share any motivation, if they have found any evidence on social media or any note. what are you hearing from what the sheriff is saying? >> we have learned a couple things. the age of the shooter, just outside the bracket of the facts -- >> 64 is older than 20 something years old. >> 30, 35. it's older. >> it is tragic there are so many in the united states. but this would be the oldest perpetrator we have seen. >> absolutely. with the number having risen to 50 confirmed dead, i tpafear it will be more as i listen to the chilling machine fire. when i first heard it, i thought

it was a weapon from afghanistan. so the sheriff confirmed there were multiple rifles. but he also had extended magazines. an automatic weapon typically has a 20 or 30-round magazine. and he had additional rifles cache, just fired one until it emptied or the barrel got hot, and continued to shoot in the biomass. >> what can you tell about the killer? again, 64 years old. multiple guns. knew enough to choose that room from the 32nd floor because it looked out over this mass of thousands of people. >> it looks like extensive planning. there going to be evidence of that. i think they will find it when they execute the warrants of his house and cars. they will uncover a lot of material in terms of a manifesto or social media posts. they will get down to what made this guy tick, what made him do such a thing. >> a little more background. this was the final day of a

four-day concert, route 91 harvest festival. it is the fourth year they have had this. country music superstar jason aldean was on stage finishing up the last set. hard to know if any of that was in the shooter's head. we spoke to one of the sirius xm hosts on stage with jason aldean. he said your mind can't go there. you think it is pyrotechnics, fireworks. you think it is anything but this, that somebody is mowing down in cold blood all the concertgoers. we just don't have a lot of information yet. this isn't the first mass killing we have seen at a concert. these big venues are soft targets now. >> sure. alyson, as you point out, the amplification of music and sound. a number of witnesses have said they thought the initial barrage of gunfire was the end of the

show fireworks. so that kept people in more of an unsuspecting mode for a lot longer and let this person continue to kill folks. i thought it was also interesting here in that the place that he picked, we talked about soft targets. people know they are trying to get bombs on airplanes is different attacking a federal building or doing something inside a venue is difficult. but to have that proximity and that elevated high ground, the fact that he was in a commanding position to be able to shoot down from not that far distance with a rifle that could reach that distance quite easily and then just to spray into the b biomass. >> the number now is at least 50 people dead, more than 200 injured. that number 50 went up by 30 in the course of the early morning hours. i fear, yes, that number will

tragically go up. we heard storme warren on stage there is a ton of security on stage, which there is now at most concerts is in america. there is big security. but that doesn't account for the nearby buildings, the hotel. you didn't have is to have a ticket for the concert to check into the hotel. >> that's what happens. everybody felt safe because of all the different measures they put in. not to think the this could happen from a half mile away or quarter mile away. that's the thinking behind this. sto stormsaw the bullets raining down onto the stage. that's why he knew to look up. he saw them hitting right in front of them. that led him to look up. but unfortunately everybody else was concentrating on what's going on because that's what they're there for. >> we only know scant details. 64 years old. that jumps out at both of you because that is the oldest shooter of a mass shooting.

they're generally much younger. in terms of what you would think that his background would be, how hard is it to shoot an automatic weapon? you don't have to be a marksman. you just fire down and it finds victims. >> absolutely. obviously purchasing one of tho those, you can't do that in the united states. about are there some that are out? sure. could people buy a semiautomatic and make an illegal modification to it to allow a semiautomatic to become a fully automatic weapon. that was automatic weapon fire. no doubt bit. nobody was squeezing the trigger and got that sustained rate of fire. >> the president did just put out a statement on twitter. let me read it to you right now. my warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families in the shooting in las vegas. 7:12 a.m. on the east coast.

joe johns is at the white house with the very latest. joe, i can imagine the president has been briefed. >> reporter: it's clear the president has been briefed. this is a statement that was put out to the white house media pool just a few minutes ago and disseminated to all of the news organizations that are party to it. the president has been briefed on the horrific tragedy in las vegas. we're monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. all of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers. so as i said, that's been put out across the white house to the media news organizations. what's interesting is that the president himself, though he's been extremely active on twitter the last 48, 72 hours, has not himself tweeted on the issue of las vegas. there we go. we just got something. and it still has not come up on my phone. so perhaps you can tell me. but it's been a while since the president has taken this long.

and it's also very interesting i think to say that the president has been very quick off the draw to talk about mass casualty events, whether the united states or other places. and this time he has held off a bit. i know it comes not too long after the president said that he wants to get all the facts where weighing in on certain issues. so perhaps you can tell me at this point what that tweet says because it's not on my phone. >> i'll read it now. the president has been briefed. this is the statement the president just put out on twitter. my warmest condo tphepbss and saegts to the victims and families of the terrible las vegas shooting. god bless you. that came up from the president after 7:00 a.m. the shooter believed to be the oldest in my mass shooting we have seen. the shooting at the republican baseball practice last year was older than 60 as well. this is the second time we have seen someone in their older years do something like this,

which is odd. talk to me about this crime scene. it's a huge crime scene. you have essentially the las vegas strip and very big concert venue. these are live pictures right now. >> you're going to have his house, his cars, and this park where it is going to be a huge undertaking. all the ballistics have to be recovered from. any other information they are going to have to find, they have to coordinate a crime scene search. they will have to create a grid pattern to they don't miss anything. they will have to flag all the pieces of evidence they do find. and evidence at the hospital where some of these victims unfortunately have passed away now. they will have to go is and collect those things too. this is a huge under taking for any police department. but this one is going to be extremely difficult to deal with because of the amount of people that have been killed. >> investigators like you always try to figure out what this is, what the motivation was. is this terrorism? isn't it domestic terrorism, something that rains terror down

on thousands of people at a concert? what's the technicality that would keep them from calling this domestic terrorism? >> the difference in domestic terrorism and international terrorism is simply where it originates. somebody that was born here or that comes from some other place. they say generals are always caught fighting the last war. but we have to look back at what has happened and try to prevent those type of things but be forward leaning. whatever we do to prevent a terrorist act, the terrorists are always thinking of something else. we they can't hit hard targets. we'll hit a soft target. the chinese general from 500 b.c. once famously said there are no stable companies in warfa warfare. it is like waefrplt it doesn't retain its shape. terrorism is the same way. we have to look and learn from this. this is clearly reminiscent of august 1st, 1966, the university of texas clock tower shooting. clearly reminiscent of that

where you have somebody in a high position. again, he knew he wasn't going to survive that. same thing here. there was no getaway car. there was no plan. there was no seeking out of a negotiated settlement, i'll turn myself in if. there was none of that. kill as many people as possible and be vanquished by the police or kill yourself. >> you can't go into a concert, find a building near the concert. this is the largest, deadliest mass shooting. more than 50 killed, 200 injured. steven paddock, 64 years old, he is dead. he was killed on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay. numerous other on guns inside that "newsroom". jeff zeleny reporting that an administration official tells cnn the president's trip to puerto rico, which was planned for tomorrow, is now under review. i think the white house looking at the situation right now trying to get a sense of las vegas and the aftermath and will decide whether or not the

president still does go to puerto rico to see the damage there himself. >> a person of interest for a couple of hours that people were looking for. it was a woman. she was described as a roommate or a companion somehow of this gunman. the sheriff came out and said she has been located. we they are talking to her. she will obviously, joe, be their best link to what his mind-set was, what his background is. >> and if she knew anything, why didn't she tip police off? you just don't go with bags full of guns in a hotel and say, bye, see you later. there's a lot of questions that will be need to be answered. but she will treat her with kid gloves. but after that, she will be facing stiff penalties. >> gentlemen, stand by. we want to go to jake owen, country music star. he was on stage next to jason

aldean. he joins us now. jake, where are you this morning? >> hi. how are you all doing? i'm still on my tour bus in a parking lot. it's about 300 or 400 yards from the stage. i somehow made it over here from the stage area when the shooting started. it was raining off the top of the stage, hitting trailers, people scattering. it was chaos. i have never and don't ever want to be part of anything like this again. >> of course. what happened? were you playing on stage with jason and how long did it take to figure out what was unfolding? >> i was standing there. i had just come off stage before jason's set is. and i was back out there like we always do. we're all friends out here. and i was out there watching the show, wanted to support him. all of a sudden you just heard a couple of individual -- you

would ask yourself, that sounded kind of like a gunshot. the next thing you know it was unloading, no doubt an automatic rifle or machine gun or something you could tell the chaos and the fear in everyone's eyes and demeanor was changed. everyone just started scrambling for any sort of cover. in the way that it is set up you could see where the guy was in mandalay, it is like shooting fish in a barrel. i hate to say that sort of term. but i feel so bad for these people. we are all lucky. we were just talking about this. my crew, the crew backstage, we were so lucky we're not in the line of fire. so many people were here to have a great time. that's what we're here to do for them. and they lost their lives. >> jake, i don't know if you have gotten an update but at least 50 people have been killed. >> yeah. when this thing started, and i got back to the bus -- and that was another thing.

this is not an exaggeration. this shooting was going on for at least 10 minutes. it was nonstop. by the time i got back to the bus after hopping a few fences, we were all laying down in the middle of the bus, and the gunfire was continuing outside. so this is something that was an ongoing situation. >> god, jake. you know, look, this was a huge outdoor concert. there were thousands and thousands of people there. before you go and play an event like this, do you think about any worst-case scenario? who was security like last night? >> security is always great at these festivals. brian o'connell was the pro most moater. they do such a great job. the festival is great with security.

las vegas as a whole, responders, the police department, everyone. you could tell people were doing everything they could to keep people safe. to answer your question, we don't ever step on stage and think to ourselves something like this could happen. we are all so blessed and live in this country where we literally take safety almost for granted sometimes because of the men and women that fight for our freedom. it is unfortunate these types of things have now become our reality. >> yeah. i'll say. when you started hearing what you determined pretty quickly was automatic weapon fire, were there moments when you were taking cover on the stage or did you run right to your tour bus? >> we started running -- actually, i was on the opposite side of the stage of where my personal tour bus was. i can't even get to my tour bus. it's a crime scene. they won't let us anywhere near it because it was in the line of

fire of everything that was happening over there. but i made it over to where all of our crew buses were parked on the far side of the stage where i still am. we haven't even left the bus. i'm following the news here, watching you guys cover this. now hearing it is is the large of mass shooting in the history of our country. it is mind boggling. i have a little girl back in florida. i can't wait to get to our kids. we're so lucky. >> how quickly after this were you able to talk to your family? >> i tried calling them immediately. it caught them off guard. they were back asleep in florida on a three-hour time difference. i don't know if it has necessarily hit them yet. we're all out here kind of in a shock. i have a friend who got

separated from her husband. she couldn't get a hold of him. we have now gotten word that everyone is okay. it was a scary situation. and i wouldn't wish this upon anyone. and i think, you know, we need to continue to stand up and fight this, these cowards that are doing this. this isn't what america was built to be. we're stronger than this. >> yeah. skwraubg, it looks as terrifying as we could ever imagine. the chaos and terror of hearing those shots. this is such a normally happy celebratory event. it's the route 91 harvest festival, the fourth year of it. everybody was rocking out and having a great time. have you connected with any of the on her performers at this point? >> i have checked in with quite a few of the guys. everyone is doing okay. you hit the nail on the head. our job is to come out here and

make sure these people smile and have a good time, sing along with or families and friends. we saw kids on their parents's shoulders. this will be something they will never forget. it's up to us as entertainers to continue to come out and make people smile and sing our songs and not back down to this. we can win this. i truly believe that. we're going to continue to do what we were meant to do. >> well, from your lips to god's ears, jake owen, thank you very much. thanks for sharing everything that you endured last night with us. obviously we're thinking of you and everybody there tonight. >> well, thank you. and thanks to all the people and were responders here in las vegas. really i'm sitting here firsthand watching from my window. they are doing everything they can. everyone outside even the responders, just the citizens here helping one another. we live in a beautiful country. it is important for people to remember that. stuff like this happens.

we're all going to be stronger because of it. >> jake, thanks very much for that message. that is such an important message to hear this morning. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you guys. >> i hope he gets to go home and hug his daughter very, very soon. ment deadliest mass shooting. 50 people killed, 200 injured. the suspect 64-year-old man, has been killed, on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay hotel with numerous firearms in his room as well. we have another eyewitness joining us right now. 21-year-old taylor bend. she was at the concert in las vegas with his sister qcorinne. taylor, are you doing okay? >> yeah. i've had better nights, but i'm doing all right. >> tell me what you saw. i understand you were on the right side of the stage when the shooting started. what did you see? >> at first we were just watching the concert. i heard about four pops. it almost sounded like a

firework or one of those things you pull the strings from. but immediately after that, i noticed that the artist, he ran to the back and then the lights turned on. and a man not even five feet away from me, i don't want to go into detail, but i don't think he was with us much longer after that because of a bullet wound to the head. but as soon as i saw that i knew something was wrong. you know, like the previous guy said, it was unrelentless bullets. the only reason he took a break is so the muzzle didn't weld itself shut and he could keep shooting. it was really horrible everything that was going on. we started running to the left end because we could hear the shots were coming from mandalay bay, or at least in that general direction. but even hurdling of everything and getting over the fences and whatnot, it almost felt like we were getting closed in.

because no matter which direction you went in, no matter where you took cover, there were at least two or three bodies that were part of it and you didn't know where you were safe. >> where did you go and was it before you did know you were safe? >> honestly, i didn't even know i was safe until about an hour or two after the fact. once we -- my sister and i started running to the left. every time they shot, we took cover. you don't want to be the one guy standing up because for all we kn knew. my sister threw herself on top of me and saying, taylor, i love you. a car almost ran through the gate just to get on the runway to get away from that location.

as far as we knew, there was multiple gunners. we didn't know which direction they were coming from. the employees weren't letting us in because they didn't know what was going on. even an hour and 30 minutes i didn't know i was safe. >> you said you believed the gunfire was coming from the mandalay bay? it can be hard to tell. did you have any sense that it was coming from above, from the 32nd floor? >> part of me did just because of the vantage point he must have had to get some of the shots i had seen. there was a tent. if it were on this side and i took cover here, there were still bodies on that side of people just laying in pools of blood. i still didn't even know if that was safe or not. it is a fight or flight situation. you just have to take it to god at that point and hope that you can make it and hope that you are safe. i know i can't speak for

everyone but for me i wwas agnoc going in and i'm a firm believer of guy. i'm blessed enough to still be alive talking to you today. >> we heard stories from people saying despite the chaos we have seen and we have seen horrific video in the incident and the aftermath, despite that chaos, people were doing whatever they could to help whoever they could. did you see that as you tried to get yourself to safety? >> i did see a cop, and i hope he's okay right now. he had an assault rifle in his hand. i saw him take cover and try to aim back to see where the bullets were coming from. he must have fired 200, 300, 500 rounds into the crowd from the 32nd floor from mandalay bay

from what i have heard. i saw a bunch of people trying to help. unfortunately, i also saw a lot of loved ones with their significant others holding them as they passed. unfortunate things like that. but a lot of it was people trying to help everyone. and even just to get to my car since it was kind of far, hopped in the back of some guy's pickup truck. he stopped and gave me a second to hop in the back. one of them got shot. a lot of people were helping, especially metro and s.w.a.t. and all of them. >> taylor, thanks. we're glad you made it. so sorry that you had the night that you did. please give our best to as well. you're lucky to have each other to pull through this horrific evening. thanks, taylor. >> no problem. thank you. this is cnn breaking news. >> if you are just waking up or just joining us, we do have

breaking news of the most horrific kind. the worst mass shooting in u.s. history has just happened last night in las vegas. this was at an outdoor concert. it was a big music festival. and 50 people at least have been killed last night by what police say is one gunman. the information we have is that the gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the hotel that you can see there in this cell phone video. that's the mandalay bay. the gunman was killed, according to the sheriff's department. he was 64 years old. for a while they were looking for one of his companions. she too has been located now. police believe there are no other on gunmen involved. but 50 people killed. the number just spiked while we were on air in staggering fashion. 200 injured, many in critical

condition. one police officer at least was killed. one is still in critical condition. again, this is the worst mass shooting we have ever seen in this country. >> when you hear the eyewitness accounts, when you hear people talk about what they saw as they tried to flee to safety, you can imagine the death toll here will go up. we want to go to jean casarez who is on the strip and on the scene minutes after the shooting took place. jean, tell us what you're seeing. >> reporter: we're on the south end of the las vegas strip. this is really the math at this point. search warrants are being executed. we are understanding that the hospitals in las vegas are overwhelmed at this point. and that is the word that the las vegas police chief used, overwhelmed with victims. family members do not know where their family members may be. the red cross is assembling to try to help the victims to find out where their loved ones are.

it was 10:08 last night. here in las vegas, it was a warm night. it may be the especially of september, but it was a warm temperature. it was app outdoor concert is. thousands were watching is and listen to go jason aldean. that is the mandalay bay. that large hotel right there. the concert was crease from the mandalay bay, across the las vegas boulevard. and all of a sudden people tell me they started hearing these shots. and one person told me they happened to look at the mapped lay b mandalay bay. they looked up and saw glass breaking and light. the 32nd floor is when officers went and app helped steven paddock, 64 years old, las vegas resident they say. right now they are executing a search warrant in that hotel room. they will have an inventory. we did hear the word rifles they

believe were in there. a search warrant will also be executed at his home. this city was at a stand still after 10:03 at night. people are being escorted away from the scene. they got on buses. they went to the thomas mac center at the university of nevada. the freeways were shut down. mccarran international airport flights diverted to other areas because they did didn't know what was happening. this community is starting to reopen now. but there are so many questions and no answers at this point. and as you both said, we don't know the true number of victims because at least count at least 50 people are dead. at least count, at least 200 are wounded. a las vegas police officer remains in critical condition in the hospital. another officer is also in the hospital. an off-duty las vegas officer

was killed as he was watching the concert. and they believe officers from other jurisdiction, off-duty, were part of that oaudience tonight. >> jean, thank you very much. please bring us any updates as soon as possible you have them from the scene there. we want to bring in our law enforcement veterans and analysts. jim, as a police officer, where do you begin? where do you begin a crime scene this vast and this many victims? >> alyson, what will be so difficult too as you try to save lives and move the wounded is and people are jumping into vehicles, i think the country star pointed out, that bus that he was on is going to be part of the crime scene. because you're trying to determine did the shots come from one direction. what were the trajectory of the bullets. you can do that by how they hit or impacted the glass. all the people are trying to get as far away as possible. you need to interview the folks.

you are not only doing plate readers that might have picked up the two cars they were they are looking for or videotape that might have come up in the hotel where they were staying at. you need to get that human intelligence. it is so critical to track those folks down. >> we don't know the why. we don't know why the 64-year-old man did it. we know about the how. we know he got up to this 32nd floor hotel room. he must have smashed out the wiped because we don't believe the window open. he had a whole bunch of guns that sounds like automatic weapons. >> it definitely sounds like automatic weapons. it sounds is like he was prepared for a long battle. he was going to shoot as many people as he could and swaping out guns. as the barrels get hot, you're not going to be able to shoot it. he was prepared for that. there was a lot of premeditation. i wouldn't be surprised if he barricaded himself in the room which would have made the entry point even more dangerous. it's mazing how they were able

to get in so quickly and neutralize him before he continued his rampage. >> route 91 festival. i believe it was the fourth night. jason aldean was on stage. i believe he was the last act. you heard one of the other country superstars say, jake owen saying kids were on parents's shoulders. it was a family experience. we talk about soft targets. of course there is security at the concert. they check your bag going into this outdoor venue. how can you ever know what is going to rain down from some hotel window. >> this is the definition of a soft target. we noticed the more difficult it is for a terrorist or somebody that wants to kill people to get onto a plane, what's happened recently in europe, some attacks

have happened as people are checking in at the counter. soft target. ariana grande concert is another soft target. unable to get past security but waited outside the concert and then blowing himself up. and maybe he was concerned they are going to be checking bags where you have this sea of humanity. get a hotel room, elevated position just outside, and shoot down into the people. >> again, los angeles has been prepared for terror for some time. concern about the new year's eve festivities. they had some vehicle incidents on the strip where people died. but you don't check bags in most hotels when you check in. even in las vegas. they have thousands and thousands of visitors every night with thousands and thousands of bags. who knows what's in them. >> and he's a local too. not like they came off an airplane and they were already

screened. he just drove in and checked himself in. the whole check-in process, i'll take that. don't touch that stuff. but we'll know. >> one thing las vegas has is cameras. there are cameras everywhere. we will see footage of how he did this and how he got to where he carried out that shooting. >> there's always questions in the hours after this, was this terrorism? how is this not domestic terrorism? this is the definition. sowing terror among all of us. it does terrorize the country. you're saying it has a specific definition. >> absolutely. the only way you could caveat and say this wasn't terrorism is if you had a mental health issue. if you had someone, the as you mentioned earlier, the sandy hook shooter. he had mental issues. to commit a depraved act you

have to have some mental issues. was this a mentally unbalanced pepper or someone trying to effect political or social aims by using violence, intimidation or threats. >> they don't have to be mutually exclusive. >> no, they don't. >> new footage in in the moments after it took place. >> it is very graphic, we should warn you. >> oh, my god. >> right now we need your truck. we just need to get people over to the hospital, okay? >> okay. go ahead. put them all in the back. >> can you pull over toward the side? you know what, this person right here. hold on. hold on. can we get this person? hold on. try now. >> oh, my god. >> i can tell you what i see

here. first of all, it's horrific, the aftermath of a horrifying event. more than 50 killed, 200 injureed. what we also see here is an enormous outpouring of heart and bravery and people helping each other, trying to get them to safety. >> look, this is obviously very graphic stuff. these are people with cell phones. our producers have screened it. but they want us to warp you that it is very graphic. this is someone running with their cell phone in their hand because it was just chaos. there could have been a stampede because there were tens of thousands of people. but eyewitnesss say it was as controlled as possible. but you can see the terror. >> new information we got. this comes from mesquite, nevada police department.

we do believe the gunman was living in mesquite. the mesquite police department had no prior contact with the las vegas shooting suspect steven paddock, according to the pio. law enforcement had no prior calls to his home address in mesquite. they did not know how long paddock had been living in the area. that, again, according to the mesquite police department. the suspect is 64-year-old steven paddock. joe, no prior contact to the suspect at all. no reason for concern as far as law enforcement is saying in that town where he lived most recently. >> which makes it even more scary. this is something they are going to have to look into. generally we do find out that many boom who plan these things don't want attention drawn to themselves. when they go talk to the neighbors they will say he was a nice guy, quiet. because they generally don't want this kind of attention. >> but that's weird. a couple noteworthy things you

pointed out. 64 years old. that's older than i think we have ever seen with a mass shooter here in the u.s. no prior contact? that's weird. because ta means no history of domestic violence, no history of calling in threats, no history of bothering the neighbors. generally sometimes we see people who do these things and they have become a little unhinged or violent previously. >> that's the first step. you want to see if the suspect or in this case a deceased subject has h a prior criminal history. that is not always the case where they do have a prior history. look at ted kaczynski, the unabomber. first responders, law enforcement professionals like joe and i used to be, these were just people helping each other. >> taxicab drivers taking people to the hospital.

>> absolutely. >> what we try to stress to folks in this new paradigm, you cannot wait for the cavalry to get there. you have to do what you can to run, hide, fight, and then make sure you go and repeat what you have seen to law enforcement to help them out. these folks were great in what they do, responding and helping each other. it was incredible. >> what do you know about the guns? we hear automatic weapon fire. we know there were numerous firearms found in this room. and the sheriff says rifles. >> we want to know where they have come from, who sold them. >> they could be altered. you could purchase one of these rifles, no problem. then you need a kit or whatever. >> to make it an automatic weapon. >> to make it automatic. you might be able to make a contact through a black market kind of thing. that's part of the investigation. the atf i'm sure is there or on

their way to find out about the guns. because that will be important. >> if it's illegal, which it has to be. either he doctored it and turned it into an automatic weapon or bought an automatic weapon, then how do you trace it and figure out where it came from? >> every gun has a serial number on it. you can't buy any of these guns now from the ban they had without getting a waiting period. and these are some of the things they're going to look for. the connection, the link between that gun and the people involved. >> again, listening how harrowing it was. the volume of fire. it sounded like a military ambush. the fact that he had either extended magazines or drum to carry that. or as the sheriff pointed out, a number of rifles that he probably had, loaded magazines in place. as soon as he emptied one, reached down and picked up the other to cause the carnage. >> we're getting new information into cnn. we're going to take a quick break, reset is.

the deadly mass shooting in u.s. history. at least 50 people killed, 2 hu00 injured on the las vegas strip. new developments. stay with us. ♪ can i get some help. watch his head. ♪ i'm so happy. ♪ whatever they went through, they went through together. welcome guys. life well planned. see what a raymond james financial advisor can do for you.

we have breaking news for you. it is of the worst kind. the deadliest mass shooting in american history took place last night in las vegas at this koun b try music concert. just across the street from mand lay bay on the las vegas strip. more than 50 people, the last count was that 50 people were kill asked more than 200 have been injured. but those numbers are fluid and keep changing. president trump obviously has been briefed on this overnight. he has just tweeted his condolences in the past hour. he says my warmest con e doe lens and sympathies of the families of the terrible las vegas shooting. god bless you. >> vice president pence also put out a statement. to victims, families and loved ones affected by this senseless violence in las vegas, karen and i are praying for you and offering our love. hearts and prayers of the american people are with you. you have our condolences and sthies. to the first responders, thank you for your acts of bravery.

that from the vice president. >> let's discuss all of this with our cnn law enforcement analysts. retired fbi supervisor james gall ya know. joe has been with us all morning as we have been trying to make sense of this horrific breaking news. it's just staggering, the numbers. we all gasp. ed when we heard it. it was bad enough when we thought 20 people were killed and the then the number they are confirming that 50 people were killed for 50 people to have been killed in one incident at one outdoor concert. that tells you as law enforcement a few things. what have you learned. >> it makes it easier he had an elevated position. this was an ambush. he set up an ambush zone and it was a killing field. you look at what happened in orlan orlando. and the shooter was on the ground. made entry and kept everybody

bottled in. they couldn't get to the points and kept them bottled in. he was able to do that. the only other way is an elevated position. unless you were right by the stage and saw the rounds impacting into the stage, there's no way in that kind of area that you could get a sense of where those rounds are going. should i run right? should i run left? should i lay down on the ground? what should i do? the shooter took advantage of that chaos. we are getting video of law enforcement apprehending or at least crashing through the door to get this suspect. we'll play that for you as soon as we get it in. this does tell you that they used some kind of explosive to reach this guy. they identified where he was and they had to get to him. >> certainly, probably got all kinds of phone calls from the next door neighbor saying it's coming from here. maybe somebody looked out the window. they zoned in on this pretty quick. like before, these are all

reenforced doors and steel because it's a casino. so they had to make sure they do it. how much explosives do they have to use. all these calculations had to be done in split seconds so they could get in there and neutralize this guy. if theyen don't do this, he keeps on killing. these people have nowhere to go. they are fenced in. they are blocked in by the stage. e we heard a couple of the callers saying people were diving underneath the stage. but open field, there isn't much. >> people just joining us this was the root 91 har festival. it's the fourth year of this big country music celebration. jason aldean, who is a big country star, on stage at the time. this is the last night of the event. people had brought their kids. we heard from some eyewitnesss that kids were on parent's shoulders. as we e see in the aftermath, as it's happening, and we see this carnage unfolding you can see people just hit the deck. they are just lying down.

you can't run. you don't know where to go. so people are lying down and, obviously, this gunman was able to pick off just 50 people with ease. >> e we fear that the casualty count is going to rise. i think it could have been far worse. how that s.w.a.t. team got into a position to interdict him as quickly as they did, they definitely used explosive rea reaching techniques. when you're doing a hostage rescue, you need four things. speed, surprise, violence of action and a fail breach. they had a fail safe breach. they got into it and either shot him or killed himself. >> you mean they used as an explosive device to blow open the door. >> absolutely. they attacked the point on the door to give them industry. there's different techniques. there are explosive techniques.

it tyke taiks a higher level of training. not every police department had that. the fact they did was outstanding they were able to get there that quickly and employ a technique that not every police department has. >> you can see in the pictures that are horrific, the situation they were in. they are in this field. tens of thousands of people watching this concert and the shots coming from above. you can see people pointing up to the hotel where they believe the shots are coming from. they were from the 32nd floor. you can also see these people are in an open field. they have nowhere to go. in this picture, you can see the beginnings of the chaos. people just running wherever they can to get to safety. there's no place to go and no concealment. one of the callers said they were trying to get through the fence by the airport and they weren't letting them in there either. they are doing security there too. they were trapped. it's just truly amazing we sawrd

nar people doing extraordinary things. i think the death toll is so high. it could have been even worse if not for the brave actions of the ordinary people. >> we were talking about how obviously it brings to mind other tragedies and mass shootings and we think of arkansas ya know grande concert. you have let your guard down and in paris at the bataclan when the band was on stage. they describe the same thing. we thought it was the pyrotechnics or a fireworks because nobody can get their mind around what is actually happening. when you hear this level of gunshots, a takes a long time for your logical brain to get your mind around what is happening. >> think about the amount of people you had there. 30,000. if you go back to 199 during the who concert where the teens

stampede iing trying to get in. imagine a situation like this where there's chaos and people are trying to get out. i imagine some got trampled in that. reports are coming out that people there did amazing things. but that's also concern in these events. when something happens, how do we get people out without causing considerable harm from a stampede. >> it is interesting. you mentioned the oh shootings we have seen at concerts. they were at ground level. the attacker was amongst the people. this even more cowardly, this is a sniper. this is a guy who chose his perch and chose to target with the expressed purpose to kill as many people as he could from as far away really. >> it's quite frightening. we have a lot of venues coming up here. we have the playoffs coming to the city and baseball. all these things now we have a big baseball game tomorrow. and all these other things happening across the country.

every lis chief now is staying up all night trying to figure out how to try to prevent something like this. it's very difficult. but they will do their best job. >> the shooter, a couple note worthy things to mention about the gunman. this is still a very active investigation. he was 64 years old. no contact at least with the police in the town in mesquite where he was living at the moment. the police put out a statement saying no prior contact. those were note worthy. >> 64 is outside of the typical range we have for the disaffected, grdisgruntled shooter. normally they are in 30s and 40s. this subject was 64 years old. no prior criminal history. this guy could have been like the yun bomber. somebody that staid off the radar and put this plan

together. he's from the area sorks he knew what was going to happen. he knew the concert was going to be there. to get the hotel room he needed, as you pointed out, he had to ask for that. you say i want to be able to see the event. doesn't raise anybody's suspicions with that. and then he just had to smuggle in clearly automatic weapons. listening to that gunfire, i have heard automatic weapon fire in afghanistan. i have heard it in others places on shooting ranges. i have never heard it in an area like that in an american city. that was chilling. >> please stick around with us to guide us through the next hour. we appreciate you being here. we have a lot of breaking news to get to right now for our viewers just joining us. we with welcome to welcome our viewers. in the united states and around the world. you're watching "new day." it's monday, october 27bd. we have a lot of breaking news for you. we're terrible ri tragic to have to report that the deadliest

mass shooting in u.s. history has just happened. at least 50 people are dead. more than 200 injured after a gunman opened fire at an outdoor country music festival on the las vegas strip. concert is goers captured all of the terror on their cell phones as these hundreds of gunshots rang out from what sounds like an automatic weapon. here's just a moment. there's been a lot of developments in the past hour. he's what we know from the sheriff. the sheriff confirms that the suspect is dead. the shooter was identified as a 64-year-old man, a las vegas resident. he had a female companion or