police identified this man as the lone gunman. investigators say stephen paddock fired hundreds of shots into a crowd attending a concert below. he killed himself just before police found him in his hotel room. nbc 10 has a team of reporters covering every single angle of this massacre from the las vegas strip to our area tonight. nbc 10's tim furlong and ted greenberg are talking to local people who were in las vegas last night. one was at the concert and another ran into terrified people running for their lives. but we begin our coverage live from las vegas and my co-anchor jacqueline london has just arrived there. jacqueline? >> reporter: i'm live in las vegas where people are trying to come to grips that a deadly shooting happened here. it happened at the mandalay bay resort. restrictions on mgm's las vegas

resorts have been lifted. they were placed on lockdown as a result of the shooting and that's no longer the case. the city still feeling so uneasy after what happened just last night. keith jones with the latest. >> reporter: panic and chaos as a gunman opened fire on a country music festival. >> be advised. automatic fire, fully automatic fire from the elevated position. take cover. >> reporter: raining down from the mandalay bay hotel. >> everyone dropped and everyone got up and said run and everyone started stampeding. >> comparing the scene to a war zone as people drove for cover. >> we were laying down on the floor. i didn't know whether to get up or run or to stay or duck. i didn't know if it was safe to move. >> reporter: they cornered the gunman who killed himself as they burst through his hotel

door. >> this is a crazed lunatic full of hate. >> it did not stop. >> reporter: those who survived the attack said it didn't take long to know what was happening. >> boom, boom, boom. one after the other, we were laying down on the floor. i didn't know whether to get up, to run, to stay, to duck. i didn't know if it was safe to move because of everything that was going on. >> reporter: so many horror stories of people at that concert. joining me is valerie from connecticut. you were at that concert. take me through what happened. >> it was very scary. we were there for the media and had just gotten off the stage and had gone back into the media tent. three or four minutes later we thought we heard fireworks and jason aldean had done them before at another show so my husband had gone out with another reporter and she literally ran back into him and said run. it's a shooting.

and we didn't even have time to grab anything and he just pushed us with a bunch of other media people under need a flap in the tent which really led to nowhere so we hid under a tractor-trailer for a bit and people were just running into the tractor-trailer and stuffing themselves in there and closing the doors and we were there for a bit and younger people knocked down a fence and they said let's go. you can't stay here. it's not safe. they helped us get over that fence and then we got to a nine-foot fence and my husband just pushed me right over. >> and you have a scar from it. he literally threw you over the fence to save you? >> uh-huh. right over. we didn't know if he was on the ground. we didn't know. we could just hear the shots. three separate times and it went on forever. he would stop for a moment and start again, stop for a moment and we kept thinking, why can't they get whoever is doing this. we didn't know. we just ran. we just ran as fast as we could

into a parking lot. we ran behind the other people that were trying to hide, too. >> reporter: thankfully you are okay. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: one of just many stories here in las vegas as people physically and psychologically are still trying to come to grips with everything that happened. jim, back to you. >> so many split decisions that people had to make not knowing what was going on. i know you hopped on a flight this morning. we do that as reporters, we head to the scenes of disasters. for other people on the plane, what was the mood like among them on that flight? >> reporter: you know, normally when you come to vegas it's a jubilant and uplifting mood. that was not the case. it was a much more somber tone. i spoke to a few people on the plane who they all echoed the exact same sentiment saying, again? not this again. i saw a gentleman at the airport who had an american red cross badge and i asked if he was a

volunteer and he said no, that he decided to give blood because he was here enjoying vegas and heard about the disaster, saw it on the news that they were asking for donations and he a lot of stories like that, people are helping out whenever they can. >> jacqueline london, thank you. we'll see you again tonight at 11:00. we appreciate it. and sadly, we have new information in to nbc 10. the death toll has risen now to 59 people killed in that massacre. it was up to 58. now up to 59 dead in las vegas. and today we spoke to a wilmington mother whose daughter was at that concert. >> i was sound asleep that no parent ever wants and my daughter said i'm okay. that's how she started and then explained how she had just run through the streets of vegas and into the airport. >> fortunately, her daughter

arrived from las vegas earlier this afternoon along with other passengers who survived the biggest massacre. tim furlong has more. tim? >> reporter: jim, you know, these people were in the middle of it and didn't seem to grasp how big this had become and as the death tell went up, they are very happy to be back home. ♪ god bless america >> reporter: megan o'donnell shot this video singing "god bless america." megan let her very relieved husband at the airport. >> the numbers kept going up and it was really terrifying. >> i could see people running.

>> reporter: steve was there, too, as bullets came out of nowhere. >> i called my mom while shots were being fired and i said i'm going to run, i'll be okay. >> reporter: he was okay. they flipped over a bicycle rack and used it as a ladder to get people over the tall concert fences and into a nearby casino. >> this lady next to me said my boyfriend is dead. i know. he didn't make it. >> why did this happen? >> reporter: they are glad to have steve gold back. they will get hugs from relieved loved ones. live at philly international, tim furlong, nbc 10 news. we've just learned that several big airlines are allowing passengers to change their flights to and from las vegas without facing any penalties. this includes american, delta and united airlines.

let's look at the timeline of last night's concert massacre. the headline came onto the stage around 9:40 last night. the first call to police happened 30 minutes later at 10:09 p.m. police finally blew open the door at 11:20. so it took 1:10 to get to the suspect. the gunman's hotel room became a sniper's perch. his spot on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay resort gave him this view of the concert below. police are still trying to figure out his motive but we're learning more about who he was. he had no criminal record but he did have a history of high gambling debts. reports are that paddock had gambled in recent weeks, possibly racking up tens and thousands in losses. paddock's brother says the family is still in shock. >> our kcondolences to everyone.

we just don't understand. like i said, it's like an asteroid just fell out of the sky. and we have no reason, rhyme, rationale, excuse. there's just nothing. >> we also learned tonight that the owner of a utah gun store visited his store several times this year and bought a shotgun after passing a federal background check. president trump called today's massacre an act of pure evil. he will visit vegas on wednesday. today the president led the nation in a moment of silence for the victims. [ bell ringi [ bell ringi] [ bell ringing the president was joined by the vice president and first lady on the white house lawn. earlier today, the president spoke of sadness, shock and grief.

>> our unity cannot be shattered by evil. our bonds cannot be broken by violence and though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today. coming up at 6:30, a special edition of "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. he'll be live from vegas with stories from people who ran for their lives. up next, we continue our coverage of the las vegas massacre. are you safe at outdoor concerts right here in philadelphia? we'll ask police. plus this -- >> there were a lot of people who had blood all over them. a philadelphia native who witnessed the attack tells us how vegas workers improvised with something that you use

every day when they ran out of stretchers last night. meet steve sweeney. he's a double-dipping pension padder. double-dipping pension padder! he had two government jobs, two paychecks and padded his pension along the way. he's a double-dipping pension padder! now he's making over $300,000 a year as a lobbyist and a senator. double-dipping pension padder! so he's all set - thanks to you, the taxpayer. which is why steve sweeney had no problem voting to raise your taxes 145 times, including the largest gas tax hike in history.

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the court is reeling tonight less than 24 hours removed from what's being called the worst mass shooting in u.s. history. within the last ten minutes, authorities have raised the number of dead to 59 people.

more than 500 left injured after a gunman fired into a crowd of more than 22,000 attending a concert in las vegas. stephen paddock has been identified as the lone shooter. paddock was found dead inside of his room. authorities recovered 17 weapons from inside that room. moments ago they detailed what they found at the gunman's home outside of vegas. >> we retrieved in excess -- how many firearms was it? >> 18. >> an excess of 18 firearms, explosives and several thousand rounds of ammo. >> authorities just announced that they are preparing to search a second home in northern nevada. back here in philadelphia, police say they will learn from the las vegas massacre but they already have many security measures in place because of all of the outdoor events that this city hosts. deanna durante, that's a venue

that poses a lot of security challenges? >> reporter: you take a look at it now and what we're seeing are people going home from work or school, rush hour traffic but we all know when those outdoor events happen, this area is shut down. sometimes it's gated off and investigators say that when it comes time for the next event, they may put their practices if place but they are going to have to make some changes. >> i think nobody is really prepared for this type of situation. that's something that we shouldn't have to prepare for, i feel like. it's scary, though. it's really scary. >> reporter: you do not have to be in vegas to be affected by what has happened there. >> i have a son, so it's kind of like, what did i bring him into and he won't be able to do a lot of things that i got to do when i was younger. i don't want to bring him out because you never know what could happen. >> reporter: folks we've talked to in center city say they will avoid events at concerts.

>> we did a lot of that for the dnc where we have detectives go out to every hotel. >> reporter: police say they send officials to each building in advance of the event and when a gated event is set up, multiple exit points, they say, can be opened in case of an emergency. >> >> we have wide gates that we can open to let people out. >> reporter: while philadelphia police can't know how many officers were deployed in vegas, prior to the shooting once the investigation there is complete, they say they'll be in talks with police there to learn what practices are in place and what can be learned in the aftermath to be able to determine if any that is needed in philadelphia. >> in the meantime, police talked about how important tips

are. it's best to let them know and check it out. dean dean deanna durante, nbc 10 news. well, it was a spectacular fall day. we're headed into a crisp night that started chilly this morning. 51 in philadelphia. we topped out at 75. 73 with light winds out of the south to about 3 miles an hour. look at the humidity. 33%. it's going to be a much drier week ahead. you're going to feel it, very low humidity out there. 45 for all of you in allentown. atlantic city, prepare for 52. 50 in trenton and 46 in mt. holy

and 55 in dover with an overnight low expected right here in philadelphia. look at the temperature trend. today, 75. that was our high. three degrees above where we should be. 80 on wednesday and 82 on thursday and a front comes through but it comes through dry and knocks us back down to 78. still, that's well above where we should be this time of year. looking at the doppler radar, nothing out there. the skies are quiet but not far away. we see clouds coming out of the great lakes. high pressure is in place. a little further to the west, that is snow. i paused for effect. that is snow. diving now into montana and wyoming and through the front range and northern rocky there is in colorado and that's how cold that air is. we're not going to be that cold and we're not looking at snow here but what we'll look at is in ten days that cooler air arrives here placing it well

into the 60s. until then, it will be pleasant. winds out of the east and southeast. look at the sunshine. hour by hour, plenty of sunshine across the area for tomorrow. we go into wednesday, plenty of sunshine on wednesday. the winds turned southwest. that's why we bounce into the 80s likely on wednesday and thursday. here's the front trying to come through, falls apart and a few extra clouds on thursday but with a gusty southwest wind and temperatures across the area in the 80s on thursday as well. get your neighborhood weather any time you want this fall, this winter. check out all of the snow in montana. what do we say? better them than us. 54 in philadelphia. 57 on the jersey shore. clear skies. this is our realistic skycast. plenty of sunshine. 69 along the jersey shore with a 74 for all of you in delaware. here's the ten-day on 10.

it's warm. all the way until days nine and ten. 76 tomorrow. 80 on wednesday and 82 on thursday and 78 on friday behind the front that comes through dry. 76 on saturday. we have to get to the end of the ten-day before we see temperatures below average into the 6 0s. jim? we continue our team coverage of the las vegas next, can hospitals in our area handle a mass casualty like this one? we'll find out next at 6:00. paulsboro's a very proud community.

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coverage of the las vegas massacre, we spoke to a lehigh valley trauma surgeon about how hospitals deal with mass casualty situations and he said the less severely injured going to regular hospitals and it's an all hands on deck situation. >> so when you have a lot of victims being brought to your hospital, you need to bring down bringing in many people that would not normally take care of those patients. >> we'll look closely at how las vegas handled the tragedy so they can learn from it. tonight we're hearing from people in vegas who have ties to atlantic city. quite a few were there for a gaming industry conference. but as jersey shore bureau reporter ted greenberg tells us now, they are stunned and reeling. >> there were a lot of people who had blood all over there.

>> reporter: virginia mcdowell and her husband witnessed the horror in vegas after a cab dropped them off at the tropicana casino next door to the music festival venue. >> walking around shellshocked. it was horrible. the security guard was bringing wounded people who had come in the back door of the tropicana. they were bringing them out in office chairs just carrying them instead of stretchers. >> reporter: 26,000 expected in vegas this week for the annual gaming global expo trade show. also there, lisa johnson, the president of a harbor-based communications firm who previously worked in vegas. >> everybody is just shocked over this. nobody can go on and enjoy themselves. this is a tragedy unlike any other that we've seen. it's just horrific. >> in atlantic city, increased police presence at every local casino. some overlooking the resort's

normal beach concert venue. authorities say the las vegas massacre will prompt a review of security procedures for large events here. >> we're going to take the lessons learned from that and tell us if we have a gap or what our strengths or weaknesses are. >> reporter: police are actively monitoring the incident that happened in vegas and they take into account acts of terrorism that occurred throughout the world. in atlantic city, ted greenberg, nbc 10 news. he had two government jobs, two paychecks and padded his pension along the way. he's a double-dipping pension padder! now he's making over $300,000 a year as a lobbyist and a senator. double-dipping pension padder!

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neebs nightly news with lester holt. jacqueline and i will see you tonight again at 11:00. breaking news tonight. the deadliest mass shooting in modern american history. at least 59 dead, over 500 wounded as a sniper opens fire from a smashed-out hotel window high above a country music festival, unleashing a massacre on the vegas strip. first responders on a frantic mission to find the gunman. survivors describing scenes of sheer terror. >> bullets flying everywhere. everybody running. it was really, really bad. >> tonight a baffling mystery. why did he do it? what we've learned about the gunman and his massive arsenal. we have it all covered including extraordinary acts of heroism in a field of horror. "nightly news" begins right now.