south bay, all the way over to the tri-valley, at speed. back to you. >> the time is almost 5:00. >> we'll continue making calls on the deadly las vegas shooting. go to www.nbcbayarea.com for continuing local coverage. ♪ it's 8:00 on "today." breaking news, chaos in las vegas. at least 50 people are killed when a gunman in the mandalay beay hotel opened fire on a concert crowd, 30 floors below. many people wounded, many in critical condition. the gunman identified as stephen paddock. >> there were shots everywhere. >> two guys came running by that were carrying a girl or somebody that was all bloody.

looked like they were shot. >> we have live coverage today, monday, october 2nd, 2017. good morning, everyone. welcome back to this special edition of "today" on a monday morning. horrific news to start this week. 50-plus people killed in a mass shooting in las vegas. >> this is the deadliest massacre in u.s. history. want to get to where things stand right now. >> the death toll, more than 50. that is expected to rise. at least 200 others were wounded. dozens of those people are in critical condition this morning. >> the shooter has been identified. 64-year-old stephen paddock. he is from nearby mesquite, nevada. police have searched for and found marilou danley, described as a companion. steve patterson in is las vegas.

good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt and savannah. here on the las vegas strip, a somber tone you would never expect to see. we're hearing stories from the people at that shooting and their tales, horrific stories, of survival. thousands of fans were enjoying the final night of the route 91 harvest music festival. jason aldean was on the stage when shots started ringing out. within seconds, chaos. terrified people running for their lives. others desperately taking cover, as a hail of bullets rained down on them from above. >> there's a shooting. there's a shooting. >> reporter: chilling cell phone video capturing the sound of horrific gunfire. [ gunfire ] >> be advised it is automatic fire. fully automatic fire from an elevated position. take cover. >> i remember looking up at the

mond mandalay bay. and i saw light flashing out of a room. >> reporter: police zeroing in on a suspect firing from inside the hotel. >> we have sight on the suspect's door. we need to pop this and see if we get any type of response from this guy. see if he's in here or moved somewhere else. >> s.w.a.t. had explosionive breach. everyone move back. all units move back. >> we determined there was a shooter on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay. officers responded to that location and engaged the suspect at that location. he is dead. >> reporter: first responders found massive casualties at the scene. several off-duty police officers among the victims. >> i have two police officers that are currently at the hospital. one in critical condition. the other one, minor injuries. but there are other police officers that were off-duty attending the concert that have expired. >> reporter: the wounded were

transported to local hospital. so many that platform emergency rooms were at full capacity. the shooter was a local resident, identified as 65-year-old stephen paddock. what's happening is police investigating. there's a tight lock on the scene. what we're doing is starting to let some of the people back into their hotels. some of thens witnesses on-scene are starting to filter out. we have a few of them. megan and kayla. what happened when you were there? >> originally we thought fireworks were going off or firecracker oss or something. we thought the speakers were malfunctions. but once the lights were turned off and jason aldean were disappointed, we dropped. we had firemen around us. they said lay down on the ground. don't move. until after that, we started running. >> reporter: can you tell me what the gunfire sounded like on

the ground? >> originally, once we were on the ground, we thought, is it getting closer? it kept sounding like it was getting closer and closer. we didn't know where the guy was. eventually, we needed to take off and get out of there. >> reporter: what did you do to escape? >> he told us to go a 45-degree ang angle. but we went toward the exit. and people were like, no. get behind these trailers. and take the path back to the opposite tropicana parking lot. we were told to go in a room. and we did. but then, there was a rumor or something, that there was another person in there with a gun. we started to run towards the elevators. we went up to the 20th floor in someone's room. there was about 40 of us in there, for the past six hours. we were finally told by my friend, mary beth, in the lex

so luxor, where we're staying, we were allowed to come back. >> reporter: i can only imagine how you're feeling. the death toll is insur moundible. over 50 people now. what loss of life or victims, what did you see on the ground, as far as people trying to get away? >> once i was out, i was -- once i came out of the event, there were people bleeding everywhere. didn't know where the blood was coming from. whose blood it was. people carrying people. people laying down. just, one man was sitting next to me, who had a bullet hole through his arm. he was like, we can't help you now. we have other people to worry about. just wrap it up and hold still until we can come get you. that's all they could do for that guy. i haven't seen him in hours. >> reporter: thank you for sharing your story. these are the stories we're hearing as people are filtering back from the scene. police are starting to open up parts of the vegas strip. it is eerily quiet, very somber,

as police are investigating what is the worst mass shooting in american history. back to you. >> steve, thank you. when you hear the accounts, it's horrifying because they don't know where the shots are coming from. you don't know where to run. it's an outdoor festival. there's nowhere really to hide. in a lot of ways, they were kind of penned in because it's a concert venue. >> and you have assume, that stephen pod daadlock, who is th shooter and deceased, probably asked for the room overlooking. jason aldean was the headliner for this music festival. the shooter had to know that would be the largest possible crowd at that concert at that time, and that's when he opened fire. pete williams has more that we're learning about stephen paddock. >> he's 64 years old. he was born in april 1963.

police are working backwards to figure out when he planned this, when he got the weapons. the atf is tracing the weapons. there was a cache of weapons and ammunition in his hotel room when they blew off the door and shot him. they're trying to figure out when did he get the weapons? when did he check into the hotel? see if when he booked the room. did he ask to be up on the upper floors? did he choose this target in advance? they're hoping that answers to the question will come from a search in the last couple of hours in his house in mesquite, nevada. they got on his identity very quickly. when they got in the room,

realized whose room it was and got his identify and got on to him. they hope that the search will help answer the questions. they will look at social media and recent e-mails, people he was talking to on the phone, his travels. they hope that a woman who was described by the authorities as a person of interest, marilou danl danley, who is 62, and living with him in mesquite, nevada, can help answer the questions. the authorities have said they have located her. but we haven't had confirmation her that they have her in custody, as than important witness in this case. they want to know what she can tell them about it. they want to know if she has any idea. if there's any planning going of. lots of questions to be answered here, matt. in addition to where he got the weapons. a lot of audio recordings. you have to get a permit to own an automatic weapon.

they're restricted in the u.s. they're a common military weapon. they're rare here in the u.s. it is possible to take a conventional rifle. and turn it into an automatic weapon, by making modifications inside. if you know firearms, this is something that's discussed on the internet how to do this. so, it's not a difficult thing to do. it's not a highly complex thing. you have to know something about firearms. in terms of his background, what was he doing in the years before? that's what we're trying to figure out the answer to these questions, matt. why did he pick this place? why this day? all those questions to be answered. >> and correct me if i'm wrong, do we know if this woman -- the police called hear xanshan companion, roommate.

was she in las vegas at the time? that's an open question. >> it is an open question. we have witnesses say they believe they saw the two of them together in the mandalay bay hotel. perhaps in the hours or days leading up to the rooting. we don't know -- we haven't been able to get back to the witnesses when they saw him together. there's some indication, at some point, recently, inside the hotel. clearly not in the room, when the police blew the door off. was she there earlier? was she there when this began? all to be answered. >> pete williams, as this investigation continues. so many questions out there. chief among them, why? why on earth would someone do this and inflict such terrible casualties upon people just listening to a concert. >> we're going to be joined by tom brokaw. we'll take a brief break right now and have so much more in a minute.

8:13, now, on this monday morning. we welcome you back. unfortunately, we're in the midst of covering the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history. 50-plus people killed at a concert in las vegas. we're joined by tom brokaw and shawn henry. shawn, i want to start with you. we were listening to pete williams, talking about they're going to scour this guy, stephen paddock's, social media. you go into a hotel room with a lot of weapons and ammunition. you shoot into a crowd below, you have to assume you're going to day in that hotel room. would it be likely on social media, he would likely exmrab from people what he was doing? >> we have to go back to social media to find out what caused

this to happen. to find out if there were people who helped supply him with weapons. if there were people that were a part of this. not only social media, which will be a wealth of value for law enforcement, but also searching his properties. whether it be his residence, his vehicles. looking for any indication. his mobile device. people he's been in contact with recently. law enforcement will be interested in how he obtained the weapons. they will be very interested in what his motivation was. >> but do people want to know what was going through his mind? >> we don't know who stephen paddock is yet. he's an older guy. 64 years old. in many of the shootings we've seen in the past few years, they've been people much, much younger. this is somewhat unusual. was he in the military? was he trained in the military or not? most importantly, though, what caused him to do this? what were the facts leading up to this incident today.

were there signs available that someone missed? he was off law enforcement's radar until last night. >> one thing we do know about this man, stephen paddock, here is someone that is looking to inflict maximum damage. high vantage point, and we've seen scores killed. unable to go anywhere. >> this is time for a national dialogue that we can have in a calm and reasoned way, to figure out how come we have so many mass shootings in this country. many more people were killed in those than the two terrorist attacks than in san bernadino and orlando, that got us aroused about terrorism. you listen to the weapons. on full auto at that point. where did he get that gun? you can now get an ar-15, which is a modification. but it's supposed to be a single shot at a time. i go to a gun store in montana.

i've owned guns all my life. and usually have 30/30s and high-powered sporting rifles. now, they have racks of these military weapons. stan mcchrystal said, we ought not to be selling these weapons to the person civilian populations. they're designed for one thing. they're to kill people. no other western nation has the number of gun deaths that we have in america. and we need to talk about it. >> wait until we hear what was in that room. law enforcement has said what else he had. there were other weapons there. no idea how many magazines filled with rounds in that room. you get a beautiful bduffel bag ka case, a golf bag. >> it's amazing what you can buy, at a gun show or illegally from other people.

we can't have that conversation because it immediately becomes so emotional between the gun owners of the america, who are protected by the nra, and other people saying there ought to be a more reasonable ground. i'm a gun owner. i don't have one of the ar-15s. i don't need them. but almost all my friends out there have that kind of weapon. >> and, shawn, you made a point. it bears repeating about the caliber. appears to be the kind of bullet that cannot just pass through one person, but multiple people. >> if we have military grade. but 223 rounds travel at thousands of feet per second. and they're made for one person and one person only, to kill people. they will, when they hit a body, travel through, potentially, multiple people. and one round can enter multiple.

>> and you compare that to the ammunition in a police officer's gun. >> i trained with long guns. but those are meant to hit the target and to stop. and not to transfer through multiple layers of drywall. those 223 rounds or 556 rounds are going to go through multiple people if they hit a body. >> go back to the ariana grande concert in manchester. a gunman decides he can go to a venue, wait for the doors open, and fingmingle with the people caught in the crowd coming out. now, we have another soft target. and you have a guy that stays 32 floors above concertgoers, who are trapped in some ways, by the walls that prevent people from going in to pay for the

concerts. it prevents people from escaping at a moment like this. and you have to ask the same question over and over again. how do we prevent this? >> the other problem, there's other maniacs who are looking at this and say, i want a little attention. i'm going to get even with the world because the world has been unfair to me. concerts. that's the way to do something like this. there's going to be a lot of security, as there needs to be, not just the concert hall, but in the surrounding perimeter. that's going to take money and resources. i don't know what we do if -- keeping our citizens safe, unless we begin to lock those kind of gatherings because they have become targets of opportunity for these maniacs, as we have seen for other places. >> stand here, tom. i want to bring in tom costello, who has been working his sources and has new information on the shooter. what can you tell us? >> reporter: it's incremental. but stephen paddock had a

pilot's license. the last time he filed was in 2010 when he lived in texas. another piece of the puzzle here. i might add, as a part of your discussion, there has been -- the internet is just absolutely full, as you might expect, of speculation, of alleged photographs of the suspect, of what his motivations may or may not be. his political motivations. only tell you, yes, we are aware of that. however, obviously, we don't report any of that until we have it verified from multiple sources. the big question might be, what might his motivations have been? we don't have that at this moment. i also, if you don't mind, wanted to make the point, that we have been repeated -- this is the worst mass casualty shooting in american history now, with at least 50 people dead. you have to go back to the pulse

nightclub last night year, 49 people dead in that one. 58 injured versus 200 injured in this one. virginia tech, 32. sandy hook, 27 killed, the victim's mother. and the luby cafeteria shooting in 1991. this goes down as the worst. and this is a classic example of what we talk about so often over the years, being a quote/unquote soft target. as shawn has told me many times in conversations, everything in america is a soft target. whether it's a shopping mall, a movie theater in aurora, colorado. the luby's cafeteria. everything is a soft target. but all these people were able to leave the outdoor arena because they had been boxed in for the concert. there were few points of egress and there were literally walls around them. the shooter had an open field to take aim at the crowd. all of that, of course, makes

this all the more horrific, in a mass murder situation. guys, back to you. >> tom, thank you. >> let's talk to two witnesses of this shooting. russell and his fiancee were in that crowd. they join us by skype. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> russell, we spoke to you earlier. let me start with briana. briana, tell me about your experience. what you heard, what you saw. >> hello. hello? >> did we lose them? >> there's a little delay. >> yeah. >> can you hear me? >> yes, i can. talk to us about what you saw and heard. >> so, we were in the v.i.p. tent. and you know, at first, i thought it was fireworks going off. and then, it kept happening and people started screaming and

running. it was the scariest thing, to just hear the shots firing off. just continuously. and in trying to get to safety, and not knowing where to go because we didn't know if, you know, they were shooting from above or shooting in, like the actual venue. we didn't know where it was safe to go. and there's ricochets all around us. >> we look at video that you guys shot during this. russell, i believe you said earlier, you could hear bullets coming through the flaps of the tent. >> that's what it sound like. you could hear ricochets. and we got under the bleachers, you could hear it clinking off the bleachers over and over. easily 20-plus rounds, just in our direction alone. and you can hear them drift off. it sounded like he was spraying the crowd. there was people that couldn't

get covered. every port-a-potty was taken. ten-foot walls was boxing us in. it took about 12 minutes to get out. >> you saw people injured. you saw people coming in and trying to give aid, administer medical care to them. >> yeah. we saw, just as i said before. thank god it was a country concert. so many exmilitary there. jumping into action, knowing what to do, to treat the wounds. we got separated for the first five minutes of it happened. and luckily, we found each other. my best friend grabbed her and took her to safety. but as i was over getting a drink, down the way, a little ways. and it was absolutely terrifying. like i said before, everyone is kneeling and stuff, crouching here. every one of the police officers -- i didn't see a single one taking cover. they were going directly into the danger zone.

>> e nonormous acts of bravery. we'll check back with you.on th in a moment - we will return to national covera welcome to "today in the bay" this mornd morning. in a moment, we will return to national coverage of the most massive u.s. shooting in history. >> it happened in las vegas. people from the bay area are there. a family member of an nbc bay area employee is there in vegas. we talked to meredith rich on the phone. she was staying on the 32nd floor of mandalay bay, the same floor the shots were coming from when the attacks happened. she heard the rapid-fire shots and was alerted on a work group chat to stay in her room. >> just getting back into my room after a long day of work when i heard some rapid loud

noises. i wasn't quite sure what to expect or what that might be. there was a lot of running down the hallway on my floor. a lot of noise. a lot of hustle and bustle. so, i immediately went into the bathroom and took cover. >> after a half hour of being in her room, she heard an explosion, which she believes was the police breaking through the suspect's door. rich was hiding in her restroom during most of it. >> we are checking with securitiment bay area for you. our team has been e-mailing and calling police agencies. bart was recently on a high alert following terror attack last month. as we get responses we will update you on the story on www.nbcbayarea.com. right now, we want to take to moment to look at weather and traffic. >> mike will join us shortly. here is kari. >> we are starting with clear

skies and a cool start with temperatures in the south bay at 56 degrees. at 62 degrees now in san francisco, as you get ready head out the door. north bay at 60 degrees. we will have a high fire danger today. no outdoor burning, especially in the hills, with the temperatures that are warming up. gusty winds and low humidity. the wind is picking up for all these areas where we see the red shading. the winds could gust up to 50 miles an hour. here is a look at the high temperatures reaching up to 85 degrees. 77 degrees in oakland and 79 degrees in palo alto and san jose. in the north bay lower 80s there. as you get ready to head out for the bus stop, in san jose, the temperatures nice and cool, light jacket throughout the morning hours with the temperatures in the mid-50s. look at recess time. 65 degrees and some mid-70s as you are walking home from school or going through that pick-up

line. the temperatures will be in the 70s in san francisco as we go toward the end of the week. a nice, cool start to the week. we can also see the inland areas will be heating up as well, almost 90 degrees by saturday. join me for facebook live at 5:40. we'll talk about the weather and the red flag warning in effect today. mike, you are hearing about a hit and run? >> i am. most of the bay shows a nice, easy drive from the bay to san francisco and the east bay and tri-valley. the north bay, we have this crash, southbound 680 approaching mashview. everything is moved off to the shoulder. slowing through vallejo toward the thvenetian bridge. no delays for transit. we are watching it and checking for enhanced security as well. we'll bring those updates. for now, back to you. >> thanks, mike.

the time is 5:29. >> we'll continue making calls for the deadly las vegas shooting. head to www.nbcbayarea.com for continuing local coverage. we are going to take you back live for the "today" show. good morning, everybody. it's 8:30 on the east coast. 5:30 out west. and in las vegas, it has been a horrifying night. a gunman opening fire on an outdoor country music festival. it happened near the mandalay bay resort and casino. a gunman, 32 stories high, shooting down on concert innocents below. >> more than 50 people have been killed the deadliest mass shooting in the history of this country. many other s have withibeen wou. some of the images we're seeing in the early morning hours, and the sounds we're hearing, are

horrifying. >> the gunman, stephen paddock, ofs me ke s ms me keek, nevada. they discovered a cache of weapons a hotel room full of firear firearms. >> president trump is tweeting about the tragedy. saying, quote, my deepest sympathies and condolences. >> we go to joe fryer in las vegas. >> reporter: we are spending the night at the four seasons hotel, part of the mandalay bay tower. we're on the 38th floor. the shooter was six floors below us, on the 32nd floor.

we have a look at the concert, the festival, a bird's-eye view. we'll get a better look at the scene. we have been an locdown for seven hours, since the shooting began. we heard from the hotel, in the last hour, calling us today, stay in your rooms at this point, that the police have the situation under control here. but they're being as caution as -- exercising as much precaution as possible. and police are checking on people in the hotel making sure that everyone is okay. as far as how long the lockdown will continue, nobody knows. you look at the las vegas strip, it's empty but for police and emergency responders on the road. they're keeping everyone away from the area. a thorough investigation will be getting under way as daylight takes shape. the airport is right near here. for a time, flights were not coming in and out of the

airport. we'll see how close things are since flights resume. now, remain in lockdown here in the four seasons, part of the mandalay bay tower, waiting to see information we might learn. >> if people are wondering, that shot is joe on his phone, showing us his vantage point from the hotel room. a vantage point to that similar of the shooter's. >> just six floors up. joined by bill bratton, former police commissioner, tom brokaw. commissioner, they get up in the mandalay bay hotel. i will play you a piece of audio to get a sense of what happened. >> i need everybody in that hallway to be aware of it and get back. we need to pop this and see if we get any type of response from this guy. to see if these in here or moved somewhere else. >> copy that. all units on the 32nd floor,

s.w.a.t. has exposed breach. everyone needs to move back. everyone move back. >> breach, breach, breach. >> and then, the explosion to take the door out of that hotel room. talk to me about what's going on. >> let me frame this for you. first off, you can detect in that officer's voice, the anxiety but the calmness. the combination. he's about to go into a room, he does not know what is in that room. individual or individuals, maybe more than one, who just murdered dozens of people down in the plaza. there will be six to eight officers, maybe more. and what he's advising, he's about to blow over the door with one device. and they will toss in immediately after that, a flashbang. an explosive device that lets off a lot of light. and in they will go. trained to go into this room to cover it. they will have had an

opportunity to go into the floor plan before going in. they have a sense of what the room looks like. they have no idea how many people are in there, and knowing they are extraordinarily well-armed. i cannot compliment off everything we're hearing about that las vegas sheriff's do department. >> we know what they found inside that room was 64-year-old stephen paddock, a guy with a cache of weapons and created carnage at the concert venue below. >> how difficult under the circumstances to find that room. to find that man. you have shots ri s ringing out. it's a matter of time, that people are being killed every moment looking for this individual. >> you have police officers watching and looking. they know the rounds are coming from above. they can see the trajectory where they're bouncing. looking for the actual hotel.

there are multiple hotels where this may have come. to physically count up. talking with other officers who may have other vantage points. count up, count across and get into that space as quickly as possible. when we have an active shooter, police are trained, the most important thing is to stop the threat. how to get to the shooter and take the shooter out of combat. >> new numbers i want to mention, tom, from the las vegas metropolitan police. 50 people are dead, 406 people have been transported to local hospitals. we spoke to someone at the local university hospital, the level i trauma center. she told us, i believe they have 30 patients. 12 were in surgery, in critical condition. those numbers may be changing throughout the morning. >> 406 treated at hospital.

some for gunshot wounds. many being in a stampede as people were trying to run out of there. miguel almaguer is at that medical center. what do you see? >> reporter: some of the gravely wounded were brought to this medical center. more than 100 patients have been taken here. some have died here. hospital officials say they are dealing for the most part with gunshot wounds. many in the hospital behind me, at this hour, are fighting for their lives. all doctors who are on call in this area, have been called in, as well as some from surrounding facilities. literally, all hands on deck here, as they treat all of the victims. at this hour, there are no more patients that are still coming into the hospital. officials are simply trying to deal with the large number of patients they have here on scene. they are rushing many of them into surgery at this very hour. savannah? >> miguel, thank you very much. >> i want to bring tom brokaw

in. a couple things impossible to think of coincidences. one, that stephen paddock gets a room overlooking this concert venue. two, that he starts firing on the final night of this event, when the headliner, jason aldean, probably knowing he would draw the largest crowd. and we are hearing that there were something like 22,000 people watching that concert. >> and they were all penned in. there was no easy escape route. what bill was saying, another reminder of where we've come in our society. any police department, of any size, has a military unit of some kind, in which they are well-trained. you saw them in all of their outfits. they are heavily armed. there is nothing less than a terrorist attack. it's domestically borne. and we have to be aware of that.

that's going to be part of our political discussion, as well. >> you have a concert with 22,000 people in your city, do you position that tactical unit close to that event? >> that would not be the case. las vegas is fortunate it has a full-time unit on-duty all the time. they probably would not have been located next to this venue, las vegas, on any given night, as concerts all over the place, most of them indoors. they would have been aware of this. most of them officers. the concert promoted would have had to tire two dozen las vegas officers to help police the crowd. that s.w.a.t. unit would have probably been in normal circumstances, and last night would have been normal circumstances, prior to this event, would have been at the location, where they were from the -- >> centrally located. >> new york city benefits, i have tbenefit of being commissioner recently. has 300 to 400 officers to

respond within five to seven minutes. las vegas did an incredible job. i can't say enough about the sheriff and his people. and we're hearing about the bravery of other people helping others in this chaos. >> a lot of off-duty police officers, including one that lost his life. we can hear more from bill young, who is a sheriff of the metropolitan las vegas police department. thank you for being with us this morning. i'm sure your heart is going out to your colleagues there in the department. what's your reaction? or what are your thoughts about what we've seen unfold this morning? >> yeah. it didn't start for me this morning. it was last night. i have a 22-year-old daughter that called me shortly after 10:00, i knew she was at this event. just moved home from college. and she was there, screaming. dad, there's somebody shooting. what do i do?

there with her college roommate and her roommate's brother and his girlfriend, close friends of ours. and she just -- i watched her. she was hysterical. i told her to calm down and told me what was going on. i told her to take cover or run as fast as she could. i got my retired sheriff's badge and my gun and off i went. fortunately, i learned ten minutes into it, that she had made it across the street. and she went to an aircraft hangar, whose door was open. and her and her friend hid under a desk. i told them to stay there until i got there or a metropolitan police department officer got there. and one of my sons, who -- i had two boys on the police department that were out there working that night. one of them, i got ahold of him and he got to his sister and her

friends. and got them out of there. probably took two hours to do all that. it was a very hectic and harrowing night for our family. >> you mentioned the airplane hangar. this was just down the road from the international airport there in las vegas. i want to go back to what you said on a personal note. you're on the phone with your daughter. you have two sons who are working on the police force. just describe those ten minutes that you were waiting to find out if she had made it out of there. those have to be the longest ten minutes you'll ever go through. >> you know, i've been doing this a long time. i drove an ambulance for four years and was on this department for 28. and i've been working for a security department for the last ten. you just -- until you have this happen to yourself, you didn't imagine the terror that takes over you. the thought of losing my little girl to something like this, it

was -- it's a tough thing. and my wife and i, you know, she's a trauma nurse by trade. and i have another boy who is a paramedic on the fire department here. the whole family and the girl i'm talking about is studying to be a nurse, an r.n. like her mother. my whole family is in this business in one way or another. i thank god he gave us a break on this one. she's okay. and her friend, her college roommate, paige, is okay. you know. and her brother and his girlfriend, the four of them were there. they went three nights in a row. it was supposed to be an amazingly great show. i thought about even going myself because i'm a country fan. but it -- this is my town. i've been here all my life. and i'm just sick. but i'm proud of the metropolitan police department. i can't tell you.

the heroic actions of the police here saved many more lives. countless number of lives. and the other first responders. the fire department and the highway patrol. we've always worked well together and trained well. we have something called mac tack, where the officers that are deployed, they're not s.w.a.t. trained but trained to respond to unusual circumstances and situations that just happen. and such as this. just what i've seen and what i've heard, they did an amazing job. quick responses as anyone can imagine. i can't imagine the evil in this guy's mind. his family or he owned a pool company here very well known. paddock pools for many years. my understanding. i can't understand somebody from las vegas doing something this hideous and evil. i can't process it.

>> so many people join you in feeling that exact same way. it's unspeakable, the horror. we are so glad you're family is okay. appreciate you spending your time with us this morning. >> the tourists and the people that were there, who have lost loved ones. this is not las vegas. this is not the people of las vegas. this gentleman, this guy, mentally ill, whatever he is. he is not what we are here in this town. i can tell you that we'll do everything we can to do the best we can, for all of the people who were damaged by this incident. that's the way this town operates. >> well, thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you. >> really appreciate it. former las vegas sheriff, bill young. thank you very much. i want to bring pete williams back in. sheriff young gave us one more piece of information. i don't know if you can confirm that. but i know you do have more information for us. >> well, a couple of things,

matt. first of all, we just -- nbc news just a little while ago, spoke to his brother, who says that the police told him that they identified stephen paddock as the gunman here by looking in his wallet, after they stormed his hotel room. the brother says -- didn't say much to us other than his brother, stephen paddock, was retired, often went to las vegas. liked to gamble. liked to go to the shows. was familiar with the big las vegas hotels, like the mandalay bay, where the shooting came out of. that's the first thing. the second thing is, the authorities have now clarified how stephen paddock died. they say when they breach the room, when they got inside the hotel room, he was dead. so, he apparently shot himself. we know that he had a large number of weapons. we know that he had rifles in the room. we also know that he recently

purchased two handguns. so, he could have shot himself with one of the handguns. we don't know the circumstances of that shooting. but the authorities have confirm ld now, that he shot himself, they did not kill him after breaching and getting inside the hotel room. we're trying to put together more about stephen paddock. we have seen lots of contradictory information. we know he lived in mesquite, nevada. his house is being searched and he lived with marilou danley. the person authorities were trying to locate. but what her status is, we've heard contradictory information about that, as well. >> one fine point. you said they went in his wallet and got his identification. do you know if he registered under his own name? >> we don't know that yet. that's an important question. and one of the questions is,

when he checked into the hotel, if it was him or whoever did it for him. did he ask for a room on the upper floors? did he ask for a room that faced that direction? that would indicate he had chosen this target in advance. or was he looking to shoot as many people as he could and this was a target of opportunity. >> we turn to shawn henry. every step he took is likely to be recorded in every shape, way or form. there's so much security going on on the streets and the hotel. investigators will be able to piece this together fairly well. >> one of the most important pieces is going back and term how it happened and why it happened. part of that is going to be the timeline. where did he get the weapon from? the ammunition that he had. police officers will be able to trace every step because there's cameras all over the entire city. including the nenvelopes he woud

have traveled in. license plate readers they have got, to see how his vehicle traveled. who he might have met with, et cetera. putting together that entire timeline, the tick tock, is an incredible important piece here to bring this totality together. >> talking to the former sheriff of las vegas, bill young. you tapped my arm, bill. what did you want to add? >> bill is a very good friend. i was with him two weeks ago in las vegas. i've known him going back to my time as chief of police in los angeles. extraordinary individual. his whole family is committed to public service. two sons in the department, another one a firefighter. extraordinary man. and the emotion he talked about, that drive from ten minutes away into vegas, knowing his daughter might be in harm's way, his sons might be at that concert. the question i was going to ask of him, there was a comment made earlier, how did they get up to that room so quickly?

it was a thought that the smoke detector might have identified that room. the amount of smoke that came out of the weapons, may have been enough to set off the smoke detector in that room. how do they get up there so quickly? one identified maybe counting up the floors. possibly. that will be part of the unfolding investigation. but that thought intrigued me. still intrigues me. i was going to ask bill if he's been in touch with the sheriff down there. bill has been in touch with them during the course of the morning. that fascinates me on law enforcement, how did they get to that room so quickly? >> when we visit las vegas, we see it as a big city. but it's a small town when it comes to the fact that these members of the police force and the sheriff's department had friends and relatives at that

concert. and were doing their professional jobs. their personal lives were mixed in this, as well. >> we're just starting to put the pieces together who this individual might be. tom costello said he owned two aircraft in the past. presumably, according to our sources, had all these weapons. he had some resources, tom. >> the fact of the matter is, we don't know enough about him yet. but one of the things they're going through, i assume, was social media. what did he have to say? we heard from his probrother. we did not hear if he had been going up and down the streets, that he was angry at the world or going to get even with somebody. there's a lot more to know about this man that would commit a maniacal act as this. i didn't think i he woke up one morning and said i am going to

do this tonight. it took planning to get the weapons in there. and it's also for communities across the country. you got somebody in your community, who is acting off the wall, you know, you can't just say, that's old joe. at some point, you have to raise the alert level and say, what are we dealing with her? everybody has the capacity to do something. and people will say, i know how i can get famous. i will commit something like that. we are living in a different environment that most of us at this table grew up with. we have to think about that. everybody has to be alert, what they're reading on social media, what they're hearing on the street. what they're saying. >> there's somebody probably watching this story right now. we're hearing more from the sheriff right now live. >> the largest mass shooting in united states history. with 50 killed. the death toll on that is expected to go higher. this is sheriff --

>> of the sheriff's press conference. i believe they're just introducing him now. looks like he's preparing to speak to the reporters gathered. >> they've been out throughout the night, briefing members of the media and the public. not only about the toll and how many passed away. they're giving out information. there's so many people, like the sheriff we just spoke to, who were looking for loved ones, who haven't received the call yet. and that's part of the horror that's unfolding. so many people wondering, where is their loved one? >> and you know, you say you know joseph lombardo. >> he is trying to get information out. assuring people. he's the best. >> events that took place earlier tonight. just a matter of recall. just a matter of recall. at 10:00 p.m., last night, we started receiving calls of an

active shooter at the route 91 harvest festival, located adjacent to mandalay bay resort. we got calls that there was a shooter firing from the 32nd floor. and the number attending that festival, the number was 22,000, being struck by the rounds. the clark county fire department is estimating the injuries to be over 400 and the deaths associated with this event over 50. i can't give you an exact number because we're investigating some of the areas, involving the event where the concert is taking place. and we're exiting individuals that were hidden. it's a matter of a process. it will take quite a while to get through the evacuation phase. and we'll have assessment on the injuries associated with that. our suspect was identified as

stephen craig paddock, 64 years old, a white male from mesquite, nevada. we have no investigative information or background associated with this individual that is derogatory. the only thing we can tell is he received a citation several years ago. and that citation was handled as a matter of normal practice in the court system. some important things that i need to get out. the family reunification is still taking place here at the las vegas metropolitan police department headquarters. any individuals that are looking for answers, their family members or friends are welcome to come here. and we'll provide information as we get that. the fbi is vital in assistance of this investigation, as a matter of help. they are providing a 1-800 number, which is 1-800-call-fbi. so, a matter of the number is

1-800-225-5324. that number is to be utilized for any and all information, especially video information or evidence that we can provide the fbi. and they will be the housing of all that critical information. so, if you have anybody that has knowledge, through your media sources, and they want to provide that information, that's an avenue to go. once they receive an individual on the other side of the line, they will walk them through the process. and we'll get them to the online version, so they can download that information. additionally, the coroner's office, as i repeated before, has set up a number for individuals to call. that number is 1-866-535-5654. that is for individuals that do not have the ability to come down to the headquarters to discuss their family and friends in person.

now, the other critical piece, associated with this, in any mass casualty event, is the need for blood. so, united blood services have their services set up currently. they are receiving patients or donors at 6930 west charleston. and 601 whitney ranch in henderson. so, if you have the ability to donate blood, to help the cause, please do so. additionally, the laborers union, is offering their facility, the medical facility. at 7135 west sahara, to individuals that want to donate blood. and umc has a pod set up for individuals to go to umc to donate blood. and that will be the gist of the updates at this time. so, i'm happy to answer any questions. >> can you talk about what the scene was like in that room when

your officers -- >> we believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry. >> how many weapons was he found with? >> we're still going through the search warrant actively at this time. but in excess of ten rifles. >> what is the status of marilou danley? >> i'm sorry? we have located her out of the country. she was not with him when he checked in. we have discovered. he was utilizing some of her identification. and we have had conversation with her. and we believed her, at this time, not to be involved. obviously, that will be -- that investigation will continue. as far as his residence in mesquite, we have officers now there serving a search warrant. >> any yielding to -- >> no. we made entry just a matter of minutes ago. that's going to be quite some time. we're going to clear the explosives.

that will be slow, methodical. it will take us quite some time. >> marilou danley, found out of the country. did you find any weapons on her? >> no, ma'am. i don't know what has taken place, as far as the interview with her. okay. i think it's important for you to notice who is standing behind me. we have chief greg castle. i'm always caught up with your family. greg castle has been integral in the saving of lives. i think their actions and heroic acts were instrumental in saving several lives in association with this event. and our attorney general, he brought forth his office to help with future prosecution associated with the case. and special agent in charge, aaron rouse, of the fbi. the fbi has been standing next to us, from the very first

minute. they are providing all of the resources available of the federal government, to help us in this endeavor. and you have the clark county chairman. he has been instrumental and getting us information from the first responders. as we hit 9:00 east coast time on this monday morning, we want to welcome some viewers who may be just joining this special edition of "today" show on this monday morning, where we are covering the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history, in las vegas, nevada, 10:00 or so, local time there. 50 -- more than 50 people have been killed by a shooter in a hotel room, 32 stories above a music concert taking place. we've been listening to joseph lombardo, the clark county sheriff over the district of las vegas, nevada. >> -- other than distraught pe