all units move back. >> breach, breach, breach. >> announcer: this has been a special report from abc news. good morning, america. breaking news, deadly rampage in las vegas. a shooter opening fire killing more than 50, injuring over 200. that's the sound of bullets taking over the arena at a country music festival on the strip. the shooter taking aim from high above inside the mandalay bay hotel firing rapid rounds for 4 1/2 minutes. >> it just kept going and going. >> chaos erupting. thousands scrambling running for their lives. trying to take cover. some hiding

the spray of bullets. >> i heard these pop, pop,po, pop, pop, just going nonstop. >> the rush to take down the shooter. a s.w.a.t. team breaking down the shooter's door. >> breach, breach, breach. >> and now the urgent search for this woman who may be connected to one of the worst mass shootings in american history. our team live on the scene right now for a special edition of "gma." >> good morning, america. i'm sorry to say it is a horrifying one unfolding over the last several hour, the worst mass shooting in american history. a gunman opened fire around 10:08:00 p.m. las vegas time on the route 91 country music festival there in las vegas. jason aldean was performing more than 50 dead. more than 200 injured. >> the video coming in is

the concert turned horrific. gunshots ringing out interrupting the music. take a listen. ♪ >> people thought it was fireworks. multiple rounds of gunfire. >> a terrifying scene. absolute chaos. it was at that route 91 harvest festival on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay hotel and fired indiscriminately. automatic weapons in his room and the carnage unimaginable, chaos continued for several hours. >> and here's what we know right now. more than 50 people killed. more than 200 injured. the sheer has been identified as 64-year-old stephen pa

he is now dead. police believe he was the only attacker. they also located the woman believed to be a person of interest and his companion. >> they've talked to her as well and straight to matt gutman on the scene outside the mandalay bay hotel for hours. he has the latest. good morning, matt. >> reporter: good morning, george. when you see that video and you hear that gunfire, you understand why the eyewitnesses we've been speaking to here called it the kill box, they were standing shoulder to shoulder with other concertgoers when people began dropping. the chaos was unimaginable, people did not know -- overnight terror on the las vegas strip. at least 50 dead in a mass shooting at a music concert near the mandalay bay casino on the las vegas strip. at 10:08 local, flashes of automatic gunfire ringing out towards the end of a concert at the route 91 harvest festival.

country star jason aldean performing on set. >> it sounded like firecrackers and everybody got startled for a second, two, three seconds later it started again, another burst. everybody i saw in the bleachers hit the deck. >> reporter: panic ensuing, concertgoers scattering, some hiding out in the basement of the nearby tropicana hotel. first responders rushing to the scene. >> we need your truck. we just need to get people over to the hospital, okay? >> we are looking in excess of 50 individuals dead and over 200 individuals injured. >> reporter: then shortly after 11:20 p.m., s.w.a.t. teams zeroing in on the 32nd floor of the hotel. >> the audience on the 32nd floor, everyone in the hallway needs to move back. >> breach, breach, breach. >> one of my officers was off duty attending the concert and lost his life. >> reporter: at

confirming the shooter was dead. he was 64-year-old stephen paddock and overnight an urgent manhunt for his companion marilou danley, she has been located. this morning, a swarm of federal agencies, the atf and fbi on the scene to assist with the investigation. and still the las vegas strip, one of the most trafficked places in the country, is quiet right now. you can see that there's a road blocked. people are not allowed in and for hours there were people locked in their hotel rooms. you can see the famous skyline behind me, the new york new y k york, excaliber, mandalay bay, mgm and thousands closed in as false reports of extra shootings or additional shootings and perhaps even a bomb scare forced security personnel to lock everybody down and an almost unimaginable scene in one of the most touristed places in

unimaginable scene. >> sheer panic. thanks very much. we were talking to eyewitnesses all through the night. they didn't know they were safe for several hours after the shooting even though it only unfolded in 4 1/2 minutes. >> it took me by surprise when you were talking to them and it was hours after and you asked when they felt safe and they said like an hour ago and when it's such a fluid situation and many of us have been in las vegas, the hotels are so close, the cavernous sound hearing it ricocheted and that fear that they were in. >> we know in situations in the past there have been multiple shooters. apparently in this case only one but so many victims, so many witnesses on the scene. want to talk to one of them right now. mike cronk who was at the concert when the shooting broke out. mike, just a horrifying scene right there. tell us what you went through. >> very horrifying. at first it sounded like fireworks and then my buddy that was standing right next to me said

was real and it was chaos. we got him down and people screaming and -- >> he got hit right in the chest. >> just pretty horrific. my buddy got shot three times in the chest. >> how is he doing? >> at last i heard, i haven't been on leave here but said he was going to be good. >> my goodness, so tell us what happened in those moments afterwards. how did you get out of there? >> we -- most people started scattering and they climbed the fence but i had to stay with my buddies. so we got him over the fence once the firing stopped and slid him under a stage so we were safe. and then we -- we transported him around the back side of the event. >> how did you

>> got him over to triage. there was three of us carrying him and there was a cart so we got him on the cart and we wheeled that around. >> so you were able to get him to the triage and then where did you all go next and how did you find safety? >> well, i wasn't really worried about the safety part because i was going to stay with my buddy. there were no ambulances available really because it was a fire zone. so we actually got four wounded people in the back of a truck. >> i know you got four wounded people in the back of the truck but not all of them made it. >> no, and we -- it -- one of the guys in our truck did not make it either. i carried him out of the truck and he passed away in my arms. >> oh, i can't imagine what that must have been like but you had the presence of mind to try t

all unfolded so quickly. >> very quick. it was -- it's surreal. >> and in those moments, where were your thoughts? >> my first thoughts were for my buddy, you know, i wanted to make sure he was taken care of. but, you know, we were pretty much yelling at everybody to stay down. that was what we needed to do. >> well, we're glad you're okay now. so sorry for your friend and all those who have lost their lives and loved ones in this but, mike cronk, thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> when you hear those eyewitness accounts, let's get more now on the shooter. we know he was from nevada opened fire from that hotel window. police have also located a woman they believe is a person of interest and our chief investigative correspondent brian ross, you've been on this sinc

>> 64-year-old stephen paddock, authorities are scrambling to learn all they can about him. his background, where he's from, what might have motivated him to carry out what was a very well planned attack using a hard to obtain automatic weapon. what we do know about him is that two or three years ago he sued a las vegas casino, then settled in arbitration. he is a private pilot. he has a hunting license in alaska and he is somebody who has moved around from texas to nevada and we don't know much about his occupation. this morning authorities did track down a person described as his companion, marilou danley. this is a photo she posted on facebook of her at the mandalay casino hotel when she was gambling there at one point in 2014 so this morning authorities are trying to talk to her about what they know -- what she knows about him. >> as we know, he moved around from -- >> exactly. >> and appeared to have come back to nevada. >> at 64 years old, white male, hardly the description of

would be called an isis terrorist. >> okay, brian, thanks very much. want to go to linsey davis at the university hospital center in las vegas. so many injured now. more than 200 injured. 50 dead and just terrifying moments in that concert. >> reporter: yeah, you're exactly right, george. here at umc they have more than 50 of those patients are here. we're told at the last update that 12 of them were in critical condition, but, again, of course, we're talking about more than 200 people who were injured here. we just heard a little while ago from the sheriff who said that they are just overwhelmed here at area hospitals. take a look. ♪ [ gunfire ] >> reporter: the terrifying shots ringing out. >> all of a sudden we hear the pop, pop, pop, pop, pop and just thought it was fireworks so everybody just kept trying to stand there. >> reporter: concertgoe

not fireworks but an active shooter's machine gun firing off. >> we were in the vip seats to the right of the stage and sounded like it was right on top of us. >> reporter: this morning at least 50 dead, more than 200 injured. >> my other friend was praying over bodies that were dead. it was just a horrible thing. >> reporter: two of the victims off-duty police officers there to see the concert. at this country music festival on the las vegas strip when it was thrown into utter chaos. ♪ [ gunfire ] >> it literally felt like it continued for 20 minutes straight and i still wasn't even sure if it was actually bullets until when the times we paused our friend was like the guy next to us got shot. >> reporter: concertgoers scrambling to take cover. the stampede and hundreds towards the exits.

>> everyone was slow to react. once they did and it was just crowd running like pandemonium and people just running every direction they knew how. >> reporter: those who made it outside found anything to hide behind in the madness. >> everyone like hid behind cop cars. >> reporter: one woman says her car became refuge for one of the wounded. >> there was a gentleman that was shot and he said can you help me and so i put him in my car and i had like six people in my car, people without shoes running just to get away and -- >> reporter: with emergency crews quickly arriving on the scene tending to the wounded, reports of victims even fleeing onto the las vegas airport runways. now, just to set the scene police have established aperimeter outside of this hospital and other area hospitals. they are turning away family members. we've seen the looks on their faces as they get turned away. you have to imagine that that is excruciating. they are directing family mens to go to police headquarters. the only people allowed into the hospital right now is hospita

personnel. george and robin. >> all right. linsey, thanks very much. >> we've just heard from president trump. he put out his first statement and said my warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible las vegas shooting. god bless you. >> yes, i'm going to bring in brian claypool, someone you spoke to earlier this morning also at the concert and ran when he heard the gun shots. brian, good to see you again and just remind people of what you saw. >> hey, robin, i'll do my best. i just -- i can't even believe how many people were killed. but so i was sitting in the vip section and it was right near the stage and i heard a popping sound, thought it was fireworks. i looked up in the sky. didn't see anything. i was worried, jason aldean stopped singing, there was kind of a gap in his song -- it was very surreal, knew something was wrong, and then i heard

fire -- like just, just going off like they were right on top of us. so i ran, i ran to the front up the aisle, laid face down on the aluminum, i was pulling people down because i think a lot of folks didn't realize the shooting was taking place. they were still sitting up and i have to tell you when i was on that ground that shooting went on for it had to have been 20, 30 seconds. >> and you almost left early, brian? >> there was a gap. >> you said you almost left early too. >> you almost left the concert early. >> yeah, robin, yeah, robin, it was so ironic. i was going to leave and take a 7:50 flight back to l.a. today, but what's so, so surreal about this is i'm on the 24th floor of the mandalay bay. i have the exact view of this lunatic that killed everybody and i was looking out that window this afternoon and i said to myself,

beautiful, it's such a beautiful setting that i'm going to stay an extra night and not go back and then i go and people are massacred because of that same view that i saw. >> and i know that you are thinking of your daughter, brian. >> yeah, yeah, so i have an 11-year-old daughter and what happened, robin, is after the first round of shooting, i ran down these steps then they -- a gentleman screamed, get in this room because we were in open fire then. we were running north, but we were right next to las vegas boulevard. i go into this room, it was like a little -- like a little production area, and the hardest moment for me is i saw like six young women, they were maybe 20, 22, they were all crying on the ground.

i was trying to be calm. but i thought -- at the moment i thought of the orlando shooting because we were in this room, we didn't know where the shooter was. we thought he was just going to jump the fence and come in that room and shoot us all. so i didn't know whether that was the right decision so i'm thinking am i going to die like in this room? and then the shooting stopped. i peeked out the front of the door. i peeked my head out. police officer screamed go, go. and i rallied everybody out of that room and we ran toward the back, further back of the venue. and that's where i saw two people shot and then i found out an hour ago from the couple next to me that a young woman in the row so there was a fence in front of the vip section then general admission, the young woman was killed like in the

in front of us. so go figure. >> you can't figure something like this, bryan. i'm sure you brought those young women more comfort than you could ever imagine and -- >> i really tried, robin. i really felt like i needed to do something there because i had to rise above it. i was determined and said these girls aren't going to die. i'm not going to die. i need to get home to see my daughter. this is not happening. not happening. >> well, we're glad that you and those around you were okay. bryan, thank you. >> bryan just mentioned orlando. we know now the death toll has exceeded that orlando shooting in june 2016, the worst mass shooting in american history. you see the numbers right there, orlando back in june, 49 killed. 32 killed at virginia tech in 2007. 27 killed in newtown, connecticut, the sandy hook elementary school. the death toll far higher. more than 200 injured. want to go to our senior

correspondent in washington. pierre, you've been working on this throughout the evening and do know that the police found multiple weapons in that hotel room. >> reporter: they did, george, and everyone is concerned that these appear to be machine guns that were used. now, were they fully automated when they were purchased? that investigation is under way. sometime sources are telling me overnight that assault-style rifles can be augmented and turned into machine guns. that is of great concern and, george, right now i can tell you law enforcement officials are looking at every aspect of this man's background, every known database in the u.s. federal government is being used to check in terms of whether any ties to international terrorism. so far they have found none and see the las vegas police still in charge of the investigation and i'm being told law enforcement officials plan to dissect every aspect of this case because we are seeing more and more mass shootings. we're averaging about 16 of these type of shootings per year but given

guns were apparently used in this, this is a whole new level, george. >> certainly is. boy, such an arsenal he had built up there. so many killed. pierre thomas, thanks very much. >> people are wondering how they were able to, authorities were so quickly able to spot him and get into that room and abc news contributor and former fbi agent brad garrett will talk to us about that. 4 1/2 minutes and it's an incredible -- how they were able to find them. tell us how that went down, brad. >> well, the key, robin, in every mass shooting is what the witnesses immediately tell you. so you have a guy elevated on the 32nd floor. were there people in rooms of proximity that heard it that maybe even saw the fire coming out of that particular balcony, for example? and you take that information and you immediately, you know, rally the police in particular the s.w.a.t. team and it looks like to me that they got to that particular room fairly

every mass shooting is less than five minutes, it looks like this one fits that profile. but this guy because he had multiple weapons, i'm going to guess, was able to get more rounds off than a single weapon that you would have to constantly reload and he also had cover, because he's in this hotel and he's up. he isn't like one of these school shooters or even omar mateen who goes into the orlando nightclub and is face-to-face with people that he's going to shoot, the police can get to that -- that sort of individual particularly potentially quicker. >> it seemed like authorities were confident they had the right room when they went in. >> it was very clear and that's why i think they had some really good eyewitness information that that's where the guy was and maybe they had some pieces of this was, robin, about a guy that carried maybe too many bags in there to stay for one night. there may be other

play into why they went in that room but clearly i think witnesses probably helped them. >> thank goodness, all right, brad, thank you. >> they got there so quickly but not before so many killed and injured. want to bring in our senior white house correspondent cecilia vega. of course, the president has been briefed and saw his first statement. >> reporter: yeah, george, that first response from the white house came just after 7:00 this morning as you just said. he has been briefed. this white house is monitoring this situation closely. let me tell you about this tweet that came from president trump about ten minutes ago, he says, quote, my warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible las vegas shooting. god bless you. the white house is offering its full support to local and state officials there. they are offering prayers for victims. george, as you know, the president is supposed to go to puerto rico tomorrow. it's unclear whether that trip still stands. he's gilt a very busy day here at the white house. we expect to hear from him a number of times on camera. i would not be surprised if he addresses this directly on camera today but as

george, that factoring very true here. now the worst shooting in american history right now. >> yes, i'm certain we will hear from the president later. thanks very much. want to go no to jake owen, country singer jake owen who i spoke with earlier this morning. he was performing at the festival. he witnessed the shooting. thank goodness you're okay but you were with a friend who did get hit? >> yeah, i was with my friend. she got hit. right shoulder. >> is she okay? >> i just talked to her family. i talked to her brother and they told her she's in stable condition. >> tell us how the scene unfolded from your perspective. >> described it pretty well. sounded like -- we thought it was fireworks going off on the strip and, you know, kept going and going and, you know, when jason aldean kind of ran offstage, everybody started running.

it was absolute chaos. and, you know, we're all lucky we got out. >> and how did you get out exactly? how far did you have to run? >> i mean we had to run a decent amount of distance. we actually had to hop a fence to get out. luckily there were people assisting, people hopping over this wall that we hopped, and, yeah, we were lucky we got out. >> how long did it take you? >> it took us probably about no less than five minutes. >> and could you tell from where you were where the shots were coming from? >> we knew they were coming from someone on the strip. it didn't sound like it was coming from inside of the venue. it sounded like it was coming from closer to las vegas boulevard. >> right and then -- but you were able to get to your car and really get far away from the scene. where are you now? >> well, i had a friend pick me up at the hospital because the hospital is on lockdown and there's police everywhere. there's police in riot gear

literally standing in front of the emergency room. my dad's actually a clergyman and he tried to flash his credentials and they wouldn't even let him in to check the status of my friend. >> your friend who was shot, at first you weren't even positive she was shot? >> no, i wasn't -- i wasn't sure at all. she kept complaining that she was hurt and i felt up her whole body and i lifted up her shirt 0 a little bit to check if there were any wounds. we didn't see anything. once we got to the designated place we agreed to meet, ,to go to, we double-checked her again and sure enough we found a pretty large wound in her right shoulder probably about an inch and a half. >> an inch and a half. wow, that is an incredibly large wound. and just a chaotic scene in those first moments, huh? >> i mean it was.

i mean when everybody started kind of running, it was, i mean we hit the ground a couple times probably on our way out. it was just bad. it was a war zone. >> a war zone. and from what we know, the shooter on the 32nd floor had just an open shot of the entire scene as we're seeing it up on the screen. how far away from the stage were you at first? >> we were pretty close to the stage. i mean i don't know how many feet we were away from the stage but we were pretty close. >> well, thank goodness you're okay right now. thank you for joining us this morning. we hope your friend is okay. we're sending her our best wishes. one of tome tough stories we heard overnight. >> war zone, that's a phrase you're hearing over and over again. we have more eyewitness accounts now joining us live michelle schmitt and her friend wendy reed at the concert during the shooting. ladies, so glad you're doing as well as you are

tell us, you run a merchandise booth. tell us what you saw and what happened. >> yeah, we do country music festivals all the time, and i've always had in the back of my mind that something like this would happen and what we experienced was all of a sudden these gunshots were going off, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, very fast and i said, what the is going on and people just started running and yelling and screaming. it was very confusing, it was chaotic. scary. i called my husband and i told him that i loved him and my little girl in case i didn't make it because we didn't know where they were. so we were just running and running and we went to the

hooters hotel. then we were told that there was a shooter coming that way. there was a lot of bad information, so i got to my truck. i had a hide a key and i got in and i just drove the furthest away from the strip that i could. i picked up a grandma and a little girl and the little girl was just asking if she was going to die. she was scared. and two other people i picked up too and we brought them to somebody's house, we were safe. >> doing all that you can in that moment to help other people and we've heard that over and over again and, wendy, what was the situation like for you? >> well, we were just sitting in her boutique and we heard a couple pops and were wondering, we didn't know there would be fireworks and then people just

stampede and saying somebody is shooting. somebody is shooting so she told me to run and we got separated and so the shots stopped and i had my son on the phone and i looked back and i -- he started shooting again and i could see the flashes from the mandalay bay and i said i see where it's coming -- i see where it's coming. and he said get out. get out so i ran across the street to the tropicana where tons of other people were running, as well, falling over, screaming for loved ones, some were carrying wounded people. some were on the ground. it was pretty horrific. it was pretty -- i never thought i would experience something like this. >> no, nor should you or anyone. michelle, you were slightly injured in getting away?

fell over a concrete barrier but i haven't gone to the hospital because it's just swelling and there's a lot of trauma cases so i just don't want to -- >> bless your heart. >> -- go there. >> bless your heart. you said earlier in the back of your mind you worried like something like this would happen. why did you think this could happen? >> because i do these events and the security that is for these events, it's not there. they check your bags a minimum. granted this one was in a hotel, but there's just such an opportunity for somebody to do this in such a mass crowd and kill so many people at one time and it's just the perfect storm for something like this to happen. and it's -- i'm really rethinking of what i'm going to be doing because i don't want to do this

i'm scared. >> that's understandable, michelle and wendy, thank you. we're thinking of you and everyone there and we send you our love and absolute best. >> thank you. >> thank you both. >> we're praying for everybody. >> yeah, definitely. >> we all are praying for everybody right now. we are live all across the country. it's 7:30 but as i said we're live all across the country covering the deadliest mass shooting in american history. it happened in las vegas last night. country music festival. this was the moment when the shots rang out. ♪ [ gunfire ] jason aldean there on the stage just seconds later he dropped his guitar, ran off the stage, but the shooting went on for 4 and a half minutes and this video shows the scene from the concertgoers' perspective.

>> can you imagine the confusion not knowing if it was part of the concert or not? this is what we do know at this hour, more than 50 people, more than 50 killed. more than 200 injured. the shooter has been identified as 64-year-old stephen paddock. he is now dead. police believe he was the only attacker. they've also located the woman believed to be the person of interest, this woman right here, his campaign none. >> matt gutman is on the scene. it's been there all through the night at the mandalay bay. matt. >> reporter: george, when you think about this shooting you think it was me titiculously planned. he planned to be on the side facing the concert towards the airport. he knew that he would be in an elevated position. he repositioned his weapons there and then he fired down on the crowd. eyewitnesses who were there, tens of thousands of them in that crowd at the concert shoulder to shoulder

just heard thumping then they hear the gunfire and thought it was firecrackers and then people started falling and that's when people started calling it the kill box. it was really shooting fish in a barrel and mowing people down right and left and chaos ensued people stumbling over the many, the 200 wounded trying to seek safety. we've heard reports of people hauling the wounded over fences to try to get them out of harm's way. many people sought shelter underneath the stage itself because that was the only place where they thought they couldn't be seen and with them first responders, there were police officers on the scene. there were ex-military. there were nurses helping to stanch the wound of these people. chest wounds, head wounds, there was blood everywhere. one of the eyewitnesses still had blood on his hands, his shirt was gone because he had used it to try to

bleeding of one of the eyewitnesses and that cascaded across this city. first starteds to 13i8 the airport to get away from the shooting then all across here there were reports of additional shootings of bomb scares and the hotel started closing down and lockdowns, some were evacuated. it took six hour, george, for some of these hotels to end the lockdown and finally allow people out of the rooms and you can see behind me traffic is still at this hour being diverted away from the las vegas strip as law enforcement still picks up the pieces and continues what is going to be a very exhaustive and prolonged investigation. >> they had to make sure everyone was safe. matt gutman, thanks very much. >> i can understand completely. earlier we spoke with adam payne, another witness to the shooting. >> i understand a. i'm sorry that a good friend of yours was shot. >> he was

>> is he okay? >> yeah. >> yeah, actually he -- as far as what his family told me, he just came out of surgery. they removed the bullet, and he's now in stable condition. >> tell us, tell us about your experience. >> well, me and my girlfriend, we were center stage about a hundred or a hundred feet back from the stage. third song of the set. everybody having a good time and singing and dancing, whatever is going on and the initial string of gunfire sounded like a small chain of like fireworks like firecrackers. there was maybe a ten-second pause between the first and second string. by the time the second string it got a little bit louder, a little bit deeper, and everyone started to run around.

the performer even ran offstage, him and his band and started -- >> is that when you knew it was real? >> yeah, kind of right then and there, everything hit the fan, and you realize it's not just fireworks. something has actually gone down. >> and how did you then -- you were pretty close to the stage. how did you get out? >> it was kind of a mess. everything happened with my friend actually was how i got out. when we turned around and we started running out towards the exit and i just happened to glance down at the right time and he was laying on his back so i stopped to help him and told my girlfriend just to keep on going, get out. i'll find out when i get out and picked him up and him and i as i was carrying him out, everybody kind of got ahead of me. we just got really lucky that, you know, even that we were like some of the last people out. >> you actually carried him out? >> i carried him out as far as i could carry him until a paramedic came and took over for me.

and hours, you don't know what to believe. you don't know what the situation is like. >> oh, no. >> everything is a mystery. >> yeah, it was -- hectic enough to the point where i believed for awhile that there was more than one shooter. but they're saying now it was a lone wolf kind of attack. and everything that happened happened off the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay hotel and casino. >> george, you have to imagine that people like adam that you spoke to so soon after the shooting still had to be in some state of shock. >> they all described those few minutes feeling like hours. >> and more than 200 we've been saying are injured and they're at local hospitals and linsey davis is at one right there in las vegas. linsey. >> reporter: yeah, robin, we just got our third update from the umc spokeswoman and every time we get an update the number has doubled. so at latest check she says that 104 patients have been admitted here. eight were taken into the

12 remain in critical condition. now, of course, we heard from the sheriff saying that the hospitals here are overwhelmed. that's a legitimate concern of many in the medical field saying how equipped is the city of las vegas as far as hospitals to care for the more than 200 people who have been injured. at this trauma center they only have 18 beds in the icu and another legitimate question, concern, will there be enough blood supply as well, robin. >> as you said, it's still very fluid situation in many ways there at the hospital. they'll keep getting new numbers. >> that's not the only hospital there. want to bring back chief investigative correspondent brian ross, lots of details coming in on the shooter. >> trying to learn all they can about 64-year-old stephen paddock. they've begun by questioning a person described as his companion, 62-year-old marilou danley. here's a picture she posted of herself at the mandalay bay casino in september of 2014 where she apparently regularly went to gamble.

questioning by police this morning after initially they looked for her -- searched for her across nevada and say they now have her in custody. what we do know about paddock is he is a person who worked as an accountant over the years, as an auditor, is 64 years old, white male. he filed a lawsuit against a casino in 201. >> not the mandalay bay. >> not the mandalay bay, a different one, settled it in arbitration. has a hunting license in alaska, familiar with guns and a pilot. >> nothing to prevent him from buying these weapons. >> a fully automatic weapon is hard to obtain but no criminal record on his part at all. nothing that would prevent him from buying a standard weapon. a fully automatic weapon like these that shoot off as many as 600 rounds, they are very difficult to obtain to get a license for that. takes years sometimes and they're extremely expensive. $65,000, as much as that so if he -- how he obtained this weapon will be of great question because as we've ror

4 1/2 minutes he fired off six or seven burst, 30 rounds in each burst. >> 200 shots overall, okay, brian ross, thanks very much. >> we will be live all morning long with the very latest from las vegas. the deadliest mass shooting in american history, what we are now learning, the witnesses from the scene. they'll open up and tell us even more about those terrifying moments when we come back. this this this this is my body of proof. proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can take on psoriatic arthritis with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. humira is the #1 prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers,

ing lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. want more proof? ask your rheumatologist about humira. what's your body of proof? t-mobile never stops. we've doubled our lte coverage. we're already the fastest 4g lte network, and we just keep getting faster. and now america's best unlimited gets even more powerful when you pair it with the new iphone everyone is excited about. introducing the amazing iphone 8. it's the best iphone yet, now on america's best unlimited network. for a limited time, save up to three hundred dollars on iphone 8. and now, join t-mobile's iphone upgrade program for free.

how much money do you think you'll need in retirement? then we found out how many years that money would last them. how long do you think we'll keep -- oooooohhh! you stopped! you're gonna leave me back here at year 9? how did this happen? it turned out, a lot of people fell short, of even the average length of retirement. we have to think about not when we expect to live to, but when we could live to. let's plan for income that lasts all our years in retirement. prudential. bring your challenges. we used to resort to some to take care of our jeans. ahhh! luckily we discovered tide pods plus downy. so our jeans stay in great shape. and they actually get clean. tide pods plus downy. super concentrated to clean and condition. it's got to be tide.

ralphcandidate for governor,rtham, and i sponsored is ad. they're studying for 21st century jobs., but ed gillespie supports donald trump's plan to take money out of virginia public schools and give it to private schools. as a washington dc lobbyist, ed gillespie worked for lenders trying to keep student loan rates high. and ed gillespie's plan to cut taxes for the wealthy could cut virginia school funding, too. ed doesn't stand for education.

back here on "gma" with the deadliest mass shooting in american history. that is the scene as chaos erupted in las vegas. gunfire ringing out during a country music festival. jason aldean was on stage at the time. at least 50 people, more than 50 killed, more than 200 injured. the suspect is now dead. we're going to bring in our contributors, chief david brown, dan abrams is here in the studio with us, as well as ray kelly. thank you, gentlemen, all. the broad investigation as it stands right now, dan. >> this is a crime scene right now and the most important thing for them to do immediately is to make sure there's no one else involved to make sure that there's no other threat to the community, they want to know everything about how this happened. meaning how did he get the weapons? who did he know? who was he associated with? they're going to dig into this guy's history to figure out first of all who was he with

immediate time before it and then they're going to move back from there to say, who else did he know beyond that, et cetera, but, remember, this is right now a very active crime scene investigation. >> ray kelly, former chief of new york city police, one of the things we saw, everybody going to immediate emergency response mode preparing for a terrorist attack, the entire city on lockdown. >> well, i must say the police did an excellent job. when you have an active shooter situation, obviously the shooter has the advantage of time. they got there apparently within five minutes and took this individual out. what's different here is the automatic weapon. he had the ability to put out an awful lot of bullets and five or 10,000 potential targets, so we haven't seen anything like this. >> captive situation. >> captive situation, obviously panicked. people are falling over each other, so it it could have been a lot more people killed. we don't know how much ammunition he had. he had several weapons. were they all automatic weans

get an automatic weapon but if you know something about guns, you can adjust to a regular s i semiautomatic and has a hunting license and familiarity with guns so this is the first time we've seen anything like this, obviously it's the greatest mass shooting in the history of this country and we want to know as dan said why, why, why. >> why. former dallas chief david brown, we heard from a woman who runs a merchandising booth there and she said that she had had always been fearful of this and we know that law enforcement all across the country have been leary of the so-called soft target. >> the promoter wants to try to minimize cost as it relates to security and law enforcement is always pushing and advocating for more and more law enforcement expanding the perimeter and

why law enforcement is so concerned about these soft targets, about, you know, when we can layer on more and more security further and further out so that we can get a sense of these type of sniper events. >> and, dan abrams, this is going to re-open the debate over guns in this country. >> well, it is but i think it's really important to make sure we do it accurately. i think as ray points out, we don't necessarily know it was an automatic weapon, per se and, remember, automatic weapons are generally illegal around the country. there are exceptions to that. but one can take a semiautomatic weapon, a perfectly legal one and transform it into an automatic weapon. i think that the first question people are going to want to know is did he acquire these weapons legally. i mean that's going to be the question and if he didn't, where did he get them? how did he get them? who did he get them from? there's no question that that will be a part of this investigation

one. >> what we've seen in las vegas, ray, we're right here in times square and when there's large events that are often taking place here and people have wondered what it would be like for somebody to get into and do similar what happened in las vegas here. >> sure, it's a major concern but at major events here the police department have people on rooftops, they're observing what's going on on the ground but also observing buildings that are across from where they are, so it's something that's always been on the radar screen for the police department but still difficult to spot and difficult to react to. >> not the kind of thing you would expect necessarily at a concert like this. >> that's right. most of the security, of course, is focused on the ground checking bags. >> and intelligence too, don't forget about that and ray will tell you too. it's intelligence. not just how many shooters you have but trying to figure out stopping them before they happen. >> we got to take a quick break. live all morning long with the latest on this mass shooting

when we come back, jason aldean, he was on the stage last night when the shooting rang out. we'll have what he and the rest of the music community is saying this morning. et in my way? watch me. ♪ i've tried lots of things for my joint pain. now? watch me. ♪ think i'd give up showing these guys how it's done? please. real people with active psoriatic arthritis are changing the way they fight it... they're moving forward with cosentyx®. it's a different kind of targeted biologic. it's proven to help people find less joint pain and clearer skin. don't use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms of an infection. or if you have received a vaccine, or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur.

for less joint pain and clearer skin, ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. ♪ stare with me into the abyss ( ♪ ) ♪ stare with me into the abyss

♪ give extra. get extra. ♪ ♪you are loved ♪ but their nutritional needs (vremain instinctual.d, that's why there's purina one true instinct. nutrient-dense, protein-rich, real meat number one. this is a different breed of natural nutrition. purina one, true instinct. i have no idea how we're going to get through this. follow me. unitedhealthcare has the people and tools to help guide you through the confusion. well that wasn't so bad at all. that's how we like it. unitedhealthcare. (gasp) (singsong) budget meeting! sweet. if you compare last quarter to this quarter... various: mmm.

it's no wonder everything seems a little better with the creamy taste of philly, made with fresh milk and real cream. amy is with us now. a lot of reaction pouring in? that's right as you might imagine, the music world stunned by this horistic shooting. the route 91 harvest festival supposed to be a three-day celebration of country music in vegas but this morning that community is reeling. overnight tragedy

route 91 concert festival. a lone gunman opening fire on the sold out crowd and quickly reacts began pouring in from the stars featured in that event. jason aldean performing on stage when those fateful shots began. ♪ [ gunfire] just minutes before his performance he talked about his excitement. >> we're looking forward to being a good night for sure. >> reporter: after the incident aldean posting on instagram tonight has been beyond horrific. my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. it hurts my heart this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. performer nick miller watching it all unfold from the crowd. >> at first i heard a sound that i thought was just fireworks and then it turned into continuous machine gun fire. >> reporter: jake owen on stage minutes before aldean. gunshots, pray to god. two hours later, i witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. we are okay. others aren't. please pray.

music's biggest stars offering support this morning. mariah carey saying my thoughts are with the victims and their families. fans fleeing this chaotic scene reminiscent of previous mass casualties involving concerts. earlier this year a suicide bomber detonating explosives in manchester, england, after an ariana grande concert killing 22 and injuring 116 others. and this attack in front of a sold out crowd in paris, the gunman opening fire killing 89 people trapped inside the bataclan concert hall and jason aldean's pregnant wife brittany was speaking out saying she is safe, that angels were definitely watching over her and says she has no words for what happened and praying for the horror for everyone involved but we know this is the largest by the way of the three-day crowd that was expected so we know who was in that crowd, country music fans are the best. it's so incredibly tragic. >> couldn't agree more. we will be right back.

thomas in washington. you've been watching this through the night and now we know no ties to international terrorism. >> it's early but i soak to one senior official and he said no indication to ties to looks lik tech. so that is the working theory at the moment. again, it's still very early. they're all over this man's background looking at any kind of computers, any kind of phone records that they can obtain to look at his background to see if they can determine motive. >> as that is going on, the victims being brought to hospitals all through las vegas more than 200 injured.

linsey davis is at university hospital in las vegas. >> and, george, of the more than 200 people injured, more than 100 of them are here at umc. we're told 104 of the injured are being treated here at this time. eight of them rushed to the or. 12 remain in critical condition. two early on were pronounced dead at the hospital. seeing a flurry of activity in here but the ambulances, we haven't been seeing ambulances coming and going now for awhile. but we do continue to see that heartbreaking scene of family members or friends perhaps coming to check on loved ones and unfortunately they get turned away. the perimeter remains in place around this hospital. i'm told it's around other area hospitals. they are urging family and friends, trying to get an update or condition on their loved ones to go to police headquarters but you have to imagine that's just really difficult to not know, especially as they continue to ratchet up the number of

casualties. >> just adds to their angst but hopefully they'll get the information they need by going to the police department. all right, linsey, thank you. let's get now to matt gutman on there on the scene all morning. just the stories that people are continuing to come up and share with you, matt. >> you know, robin, this is a night that has been dominated by savagery and evil but there are these moments of incredible courage and heroism by so many people. we just spoke to a woman here who said that as she was fleeing she managed to break into her own truck and started picking people up along the truck including a grandmother and a little girl who told her, i don't want to die. i don't want to die and managed to get them to safety. another man who hauled his friend by -- plugged the bullet holes with their own fingers to save his life. he is now in the hospital recovering so credit heroism tonight as well, robin. >> all right, matt. >> and brian ross here as well. the investigation going

we just heard pierre report no ties to international terrorism. not nearly the end of the investigation. >> hardly because now the question is what was the motive? what caused him -- he didn't really snap. he made a plan, well thought out plan to actually acquire automatic weapons, book the hotel, make sure it had the view that he wanted, the perfect perch for him to open fire with his automatic weapon. >> you had shown earlier the pictures of his companion at the mandalay hotel. >> marilou danley posted this picture on facebook of her gambling at the hotel in 2014. she apparently was a regular at the hotel in the casino there. >> okay, but again we know he had a lawsuit against another casino in las vegas. no indications yet whether he had any grievance against the mandalay bay -- >> she's being questioned by authorities. they put out a search for her and they found her and is being questioned. >> thank goodness for eyewitnesses who stepped forward and able to find her so quickly. >> we are live all morning long. we're going to be right back with all the latest her

deadliest mass shooting in american history unfolded in las vegas. >> good morning america it's 8:00 a.m. breaking news. deadly ram paej in las vegas. mass shooting at a country music invest value. a loan shooter opening fire out the window of a mandalay bay hotel room firing for 4 1/2 minutes. >> he just kept going and going. >> more than 50 people dead, over 200 injured. mass panic eruptling on the strip as thousands of concert goers run for their lives. we hear from the eye witnesses who were right there. >> i heard the pop pop pop pop pop pop.

it was just going nonstop. >> the deadliest mass shooting in american history. our team bringing you the latest live from las vegas this morning. >> we do say good morning america. it's such a tragic way to be gn the new week. we have the latest on the deadliest mass shooting in american history. it unfolded last night in las vegas at a country music festival. >> jason aldean was on the stage. we have video when the first shots rang out. [ rapid gunfire ] >> it went on for 4 1/2 minutes. more than 200 rounds fired, bursts of fire. this is what the scene looked like from the concert goers

perspective. >> all this unfolding. it was the last day of the three-day country music festival. the shooter taking aim from the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay. >> here what we know. more than 50 people killed, more than 200 injured. the shooter is identified. he's 64-year-old stephen paddock. they also located a woman who was his roommate, his companion. we're live across the country. we want to start with matt gutman on the scene. good morning matt. >> george, good morning. when you hear the stripgs of the guitar playing and you see that video and hear the

concert goers called it the kill box. it was shooting fish in a barrel for that shooter. mass chaos erupting bursting on to the nearby runway. terror and carnage erupting on the las vegas strip in what has become america's deadliest mass shooting. just after 10:00 p.m. local time the hail of gunfire reigning down from the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay hotel. the shooter identified at 64-year-old stephen paddock of mess keet nevada. his target thousands of civilians attending the jason aldean hotel. people bursting out on the runway of the las vegas airport. they carried the wounded victims by pick-up truck even using a barricade as

stretcher. more than 50 dead and 200 wounded. authorities saying paddock acted alone calling it a loan wolf attack by 1:30 a.m. confirming he was dead in the hotel room. >> all units on the 32 floor the swat has explosive breach. >> we located numerous firearms in the room. >> reporter: authorities also reporting they located the female person of interest marilou danley, a companion of the shooter. >> that terror cascading up the las vegas strip. you can't get in right now. thousands of hotel rooms were shut down. people were told to shelter in place. the lock down ended a short time ago. tens of thousands of visitors here to las vegas sheltering i

unaware of what's going on. there were reports of false gunfire, bomb scarings. police are now focusing on the invest gag. that's going to be kpaus if. it's going to take days. >> the more than 200 injured many critical taken to local hospitals. we find linsey davis there. >> there's an eery quiet outside the hospital. you've don't hear a lot of sirens or people. it's really quiet in sharp contrast to the life saving efforts underway behind me. more than 200 injured. 104 patients are here. this particular hospital only has 18 beds in the icu. eight people were taken to the emergency room. 12 people remain in

condition. it is a big question that looms large here especially that we heard in the medical community is how well prepared is las vegas, the area hospitals, for something like this with all at once more than 200 injured being taken to the hospital. of course we can expect they're going to be asking for blood donations as well because of so many people injured. >> something to keep in mind. thank you. >> how can you be prepared for something of that scale. brian ross is back with us. surveillance cameras will tell us how. the big question is why. >> exactly. the best key is the come pain your of stephen paddock marilou danley. she lived with him in mess keet nevada about an hour outside las vegas. police searched for her. she was not at home when they arrived. they now found her. she has posted pictures

facebook site of her gambling at the mand lay hotel in 2014. no one may know better than she does. >> not a big on-line profile. >> not at all on his part. he worked as an accountant over the years. he had a hunting license. lived in nevada, alaska and sometimes new york. he sued the mandalay bay in 2012. he had a private pilot's lie slens. >> no criminal record? >> no criminal record. no bar for him to buy weapons. he appeared to use a fully automatic weapon which is very difficult to obtain. >> so far no indication of a history of mental health problems. >> police waited to share his name because they wanted to see if he had other people involved. >> exactly. they put the word out about her to find her. they held

anyone else was connected with him. >> coming up we're live all across the country with the deadliest mass shooting erupting during the jason aldean performance. more eye witnesses opening up about the terrifying moments when we come back. liberty did what? yeah, liberty mutual 24-hour roadside assistance helped him to fix his flat so he could get home safely. my dad says our insurance doesn't have that. don't worry - i know what a lug wrench is, dad. is this a lug wrench? maybe? you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. from only real ingredients. we blocked some of those people on social media. then, we did it. go us.

thisto a hilarioushing baudiobook on audible.g and this woman is laughing because she's pretending her boss's terrible story is funny. still actually laughing. no longer making a human noise. experience the comedy, not your commute. dial star-star-audible on your smartphone to start listening today. ltry align probiotic.n your digestive system? for a non-stop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. get 24/7 digestive support, with align. the #1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. also in kids chewables.

her hair's a hot mess. her eyes are like... "oh, i'm late for work. i have to go." your dunkin' doesn't make you, you, but it helps. dunkin' donuts coffee. pick some up where you buy groceries. essential for vinyl, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz xr. a once daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened.

he stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. needles. a must for vinyl. but for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. ask your doctor about xeljanz xr. an "unjection™". uh, all the cars? at carmax, we buy all the cars. all the cars. old cars? yes. new cars? oh, yeah. sports cars? indeed. a big ol' boat-like car? permission to come aboard! what about a car that's all (makes awkward car noises) hgnnnn-nn-nn-nnnn-ayy-ayyy i don't see why not. what about, let's say... oh, i don't know, a purple van with a painting of a wizard just shooting lightning out of his fingers riding a unicorn sneezing rainbows? definitely. just asking for a friend. yea, i figured.

sweet 4k tv, mr. peterson. thanks. pretty psyched. did you get fios too? no. mr. peterson, fios is a 100% fiber optic-network. what does that mean? think about it. if you got an awesome new car you'd put the best gas in it, right. so why hook up your awesome technology to anything other than a fiber-optic network? i got to go. peterson. peterson's wife. counting on you guys. your internet deserves the 100% fiber-optic network. and now get our fastest internet ever plus tv and phone for just $79.99 per month. we're back here on "gma" with breaking new details with the woman who was believed to be a person of interest in that deadly shooting. brian, you have more. >> they made contact with marilou danley. they determined she was not involved in the shooting in any way. she remains important as a key to what was going

of the killer. she was his companion for several year. >> brian ross, thanks. we've heard so many emotional accounts from eye witnesses on the scene. we want to take a look at that. >> i was inside. we refused to believe it was a shooting until it just kept going and going. then jason aldean left the stage and everybody started fleeing. we started fleeing. we had to hop a gate to get out. it was crazy. i've never seen anything like it in my life. >> there was short increments where there was breaks in between the shots. it literally felt like it continued for 20 minutes straight. every time there was a break we ran and we ran. i still wasn't sure if it was actually bullets until when one of the times we paused our friend, the guy next

shot. >> people started dropping around us. everybody tried to stay down. every time a group would get up to run away they would just start shooting again. they were getting closer they were going there's someone shooting right there. a lot of people were piling on top of each other whether they were bleeding or not. people were holding each others wounds down and shouting stay day. >> we were thinking we were going to die. a security guard got shot right next to us. we thought we were going to die. i called my mom to be honest. i was just calling my mom to tell her i loved her and good-bye. >> everyone bottle necked and he opened fire. you could hear bullets coming through the tent. all the walls in the location were 10, 15 feet high. you couldn't climb them. everyone was bottle

there was no escape. it was a kill bogx. people were climbing over people. i don't know how to compare it. there was nothing i had ever seen on tv or in a movie that compared to what we saw. >> there was this one police officer he was so brave. he was jumping over the fence to take on this guy. i was like oh, my god. it's so brave. everyone i was with was worried about their life. it didn't matter where you were. you didn't feel safe anywhere. >> for hours after they did not feel safe. we're going to bring in former fbi agent steve gomez. it's very apparent, steve, a lot of planning went into this. >> a lot of planning. he clearly reconed the las vegas area, knew there was a concert that was going to be held for th

it was a festival. arranged to have a room high up t. civilians there were sitting duckings. it's so unfortunate. the biggest thing that stands out is this kind of attack has been expect nd las vegas for years. after 9/11 this is what we thought was going to happen. somebody not really related to isis or a foreign terrorist organization. >> it appears that way. it's a soft tarkt they were concerned with especially in vegas. the concern seemed to be the casinos not an event like this would be the target. >> exactly knowing the casinos and hotels are heavily populated. there's always crowds. this wasn't a location expected to be attacked from above. clearly there was security around the concert as people

here is another situation where somebody figured out how to penetrate that security. >> just walk into the hotel with your bags. how can something like this be prevented? >> well, it's very difficult because you can carry a large duffle bag in and most people are going to think you have your clothes or whatever going in there. in this situation he had a lot of guns. how are you going to stop this? it require it is help of the public. they have to be alert to anybody that has mental health issues or they're thinking about committing some sort of act even if they're just talking about it. you have to raise that to law enforcement so they can look into it. >> steve, thank you. >> we'll go back to the white house now. cecilia vega on the scene. we heard from the president and vice president. >> that's right george. the president is here in the white house. we are told by senior officials he has been briefed. he's monitin

we know that the white house says that the white house is offering the full support to all of those local and state officials out there also offering their prayers. the president as you mentioned tweeted this morning shortly after 7:00 a.m. eastern time. he said my warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible las vegas shooting. god bless you. we're hearing from the nevada congressional representatives. they say they're working with local officials. they're offering their thanks to the firps responders still working on the scene out there. we expect to hear from president trump in just a few hours as previously scheduled event at white house around 11:00 a.m. eastern. i would not be surprised if he addresses this ongoing situation in las vegas. i have also asked white house officials here what is the status of the president's trip to puerto rico tomorrow.

as you know he's supposed to be going there for his first trip to the island. i've not received a response as to whether that's in question. >> thanks very much cecilia vega. >> we talked about how the shots rang out when jason aldean was on stage. jake owen was also on scene. >> jake, what can you tell us? >> i was on the stage watching jason play. i had just come off stage previously. standing there you could hear the bullets hit the roof of the stage and people started fleeing everywhere. you can hear people screaming. at that point the only way to go is whenever. it sounded like gunshots were coming from all around. this was before we knew it was coming from above. it was chaotic. i keep saying it was like a bad movie that

but never thought it would be real life. >> you were actually right on the stage? >> i was on the stage watching. jason turned around and started running to get out of the way once he realized gunshots were being fired. the crowd started running. i mean it was -- it was a bad scene. there was people literally being shot. you could see blood everywhere. it was something i don't ever -- wouldn't want to ever see again or wish upon anyone else to see. >> it seemed like -- jason played for a couple minutes then he dropped the guy titar and ra off stage. >> when we're up there playing, we have in ear monitors in our ears. i don't think at first he could hear the shots going off until someone on his crew

need to get off stage. at that point we were not knowing what to do. >> we're glad you're okay, jake. no one knew what to do in the first moments. i want to bring in the spokesperson for the university medical center. thank you for taking time with us. describe situation at the hospital right now. >> good morning, george. so far overnight we received 104 patients, about 30 of those patients came into the level one trauma center. many more patients came through the emergency department. we received two teenagers. of all the patient received four passed away, eight patients went straight to the operating room and the good news is many have been discharged. >> that is good news. you're one of the major trauma

centers in the las vegas areas. how many hospitals are receiving patients right now. >> it's an interesting health care market in las vegas. we have between 10 and 12 hospitals. most have emergency departments. we're the only one level one trauma center. i'm of the understanding that all hospitals received patients although i can't confirm what other hospitals receive. >> do you have all the help you need right now? >> we do. thankfully we're ready willing and trained for mass casualties. we have a full trauma team in house 24/7 around the clock. typically not with this many patients. we have a highly skill and specialized team standing by. we have aye cord january staffing. as we needing more trauma doctors and nurses and

in. our ceo was wheeling patients around the hospital to take care of whatever we needed and take care of family members waiting and worrying. >> of all the patients you have right now how many in critical condition? >> about 12, george in critical condition. a few still in the operating room. plenty more health care still to do. after a very busy night, i'm very proud of our trauma team. >> you ought to be. you're doing great work there. thank you very much. we'll be right back. >> we'll bring back pierre thomas. what new do you know? >> again, they're looked

stephen paddock trying to get additional information about his background. so far no ties to international terrorism. law enforcement telling me this is looking like crime and horrific mass shooting like we saw at sandy hook and the virginia tech massacre. trying to figure out how he got the weapons, what was the motive, were they converted into machine guns. those are the critical question. >> can you tell us how this investigation will play out from this point on? >> one of the first things they did was to look at all known data bases, federal data bases, looking at crime information, looking at terrorism information. in terms of terrorism nothing came up. so far no indications of any kind of significant criminal background for this man. that's all been done. still more work to be done in terms of looking at surveillance photra

have been around the hotel. they'll search his home, search for smart phones, computers anything that will glean information about what the motive might have been. >> they were already able to dismiss the companion had any information. >> right. they talked to her. right now the early indication is she had no idea this was about to go down. they will begin to ask her additional questions about did he say anything that suggested he was planning to go something. was he angry about anything? anything she can provide. any known associate family member will be contacted. >> i want to bring in brad garrett for more on that. you profiled killers during your career at the fbi. according to officials so far no ties to international terrorism. they don't think the companion was involved. no criminal record. it leaves a lot hof mystery.

be a big mystery. this is going to be as you and i talked a few hours ago revenge and empowerment. he's mad about something and feels like he was powerless to fix it. that's the juncture that mass shooters get to when it's all about revenge. they believe people have done something to them. in this case it's not going to be the people in the crowd. it's what they represent to the shooter. so, you know, the people around him will certainly be able to give them insight into what's going on with her -- with him. sorry. >> so much more we're going to have. we're going to take a short break for local news and weather as we remain on the air all

[technical difficulties]. we're dry all week long. looking dry for the nationals play off game on friday. again, cold front will come through friday night while you're sleeping. bringing up a few clouds, should be rain free. a few degrees cooler on satda

sunday. next week, monday, tuesday, another weather system approach es, will bring a chance for showers, definitely needed but at least a lot of sunshine out there this morning. a little sin glare. causing problems. >> reporter: quite a few accidents on the roadways, we have the gridlock around the beltway. you can see we're in the red, especially 95 in maryland to the outer loop. also, clearing a crash on the anacostia freeway, dc295, crash ought borrows avenue blocking one of the travel lanes. the other activity we have been following, the main street crash in fairfax. eastbound, down to one lane. be alert. westbound lanes are open. you can get around that. early morning collisions on the beltway. here is a live look from the springfield interchange, maneuver on the inner loop toward i66, we continue to see gridlock through that area. on the east side of town, the crash on branch avenue, allen town road

lane on branch avenue. a quick peak outside, i270 southbound, just volume delays toward the i270 spur.

♪ >> welcome back to "gma." we're live on the latest on the deadliest mass shooting in american history. a gunman opened fired during a jason aldean performance. more than 50 people killed. more than 200 injured. >> so many eye witness accounts we're hearing from. we'll bring lindsay paget and her fiance jay. lindsay put people in her truck to take them to the hospital. lindsay tell us what happened and what you saw. >> we were

to leave and we just saw a bunch of people that needed help. we just started piling them in the truck. they said they needed the truck. so we were like yeah of course. they filled up my back seat and the tailgate of my truck. >> you were at the concert when all this happened at first? >> i was, yeah. >> then you went from there to get shelter at the airport? >> right. >> tell us what -- just tell us a little more about how all that happened and your decision to do that. >> well, we -- when we heard the shots we didn't exactly realize what it was. finally when everyone started ducking down, we did too. there wasn't really anywhere for us to go but on the floor because there were so many people. we were all just like on top of each other on the floor. for what seemed

started running, we were able to get up and start running. we just kept running and we ended up -- we passed my truck. we ended up in an airport hangar until i didn't hear the gunshots anymore. that's when we decided to go back to the truck. >> mark jay, what was it like for you? >> i was more worried about her. i let her lead the way and followed her. i had to make sure she was safe. >> bless y'all for thinking of others. it warms our heart to know the good in people especially in a situation like this. what was the condition of some of the people that you were p putting in your truck, lindsay? >> it was bad. one girl was shot in her leg. she was in my back seat. she was probably the least of

one guy was shot in his back. he actually did die. one guy -- there was a few guys shot in their chest. yeah, he carried someone dead into the hospital. >> oh, my gosh. how are you both at this very moment? how are you handling all this? >> i mean, as well as we can. i mean, i don't really know how to answer that. we're just trying to get through the night you know what i mean. >> yeah. you both -- could not imagine. i just hope that you get the care that you need having witnessed something like this and just so grateful for what you did to help others. both of you. please take care of yourselves. >> thank you. >> we just heard lindsay say s

nowhere to go. matt gutman is on the scene. matt, you've described it as a kill box. this was 10,000 people basically held captive. >> that's right, george. you rarely hear about shooters whether terrorists or military use their weapons on full auto. that's apparently what he was able to do. may have had the weapon on lock down spraying bullets into the crowd. these rounds are meant to ricochet within the body and causing maximum harm. that's the injuries we've been hearing about. i don't want to get too graphic. the idea is they're designed to create as much internal damage. we've been seeing the walking wounded here. there's a man who had been shot through the knee. he

i'm sort of able to walk. you should have seen what it's like at the hospital. it's that much worse there. the shear terror and the fright these people went through, it was literally shooting fish in a barrel. it was something i don't know if we've seen in this country before that many bullets fired causing this many injuries is unique. >> for so many hours after the shooting, the entire city in a state of terror believing there were multiple attacks. >> right. there was this cascade of terror alerts. it went up this strip. it started at the mandalay where the shooter fired from and went down to the landmark hotels in las vegas, the excaliber, mgm grand, new york new york,

ceasar's palace was shut down and ordered their guests to seek shelter. that's tens of thousands of visitors in rooms across the heavily populated strip. lindsay mentioned earlier the shear quiet of seeing the las vegas strip completely shut down is something no one has seen. even the airplanes there's always flights landing. the air was absolutely still. that was a very unusual sight. the only sound you heard were sirens and people streaming out of that sight. many crying by the side of the road. because there was a lock down here many people got shut out of their hotel rooms. it's las vegas, but it's chilly at night. we saw people huddling for hours waiting to get back in their rooms. some still covered in blood from the concert and that

>> what a horrifying scene. >> let's go to abc's david kerley. people were escaping to the airport breaching the fence. who could blame them. they were running for their lives. >> the chaos and that instinct to flee. mandalay bay the hotel is on the southern part of the strip. just to the east is a large parking lot. that's the venue that was used for the concert. it was fenced in. people had to get over that fence. if you go further east you're at the fence line to the airport. that fence was breached by a lot of people fleeing the scene trying to get away from the venue. they ended up on the airfield at the airport. the airport ordered a ground stop partly because the shooting was happening right next to them and partly because security was breached and they had people on the airfield walking around. that laste

half. nearly two dozen flights diverted to other airports that's why you heard the quiet matt reported. then the airport was resecured and also started operations once again. robin, just like the witness you spoke to, she took shelter in an airport hangar. they were going anywhere they could go. >> you could totally understand. david, thank you. >> we have new information. we want to go to brad garrett. we played video of the breach of that room on the 32nd floor where the shooter had been shooting. now the police are saying they found the suspect dead when they got inside. >> doesn't surprise me, george. this is a guy that appears to have fairly low key at committing this agent. we don't know of advance planning or of anybody he talked to. he probably acquired the weapons himself. maybe modified the

mechanism to make it automatic. he's a loan guy doing this. once he finished the shooting he knew he was done. it was over. he had in flighted his revenge on all of the people below for whatever reason. now he's going to take himself out. it's really not uncommon, george, for mass shooters to kill themselves. >> he knew the end before he started. >> of course. they all know the end. they're all driven by the act itself. at the end they go that's it. i ruined my life and many other people. i'm going to take myself out. i'm not going to let the police shoot me and they shoot themselves. >> brad garrett, thank you. >> we're live across the country and we'll have the latest on the deadliest shooting

in a noisy world ... northern virginia's own novec is listening to its cust who want reliable, affordable electricity,

and ways to save energy and money. novec delivers the most reliable power in the region. and customers are paying less for electricity than they did eight years ago. novec is listening and responding. that's because this not-for-profit cooperative is owned by the people it serves. novec. listening. responding.

>> back here on "gma" with the latest on the deadliest mass shooting in american history. the tragedy unfolding at a country music festival in las vegas. dr. john bookvar is the vice chair of surgery at lennox hospital and dr. jen ashton is

doctor, when you hear the hospitals in las vegas say they are prepared how are you prepared? >> well, you have to practice. we practice all the time for these casualty events. it sounds like the university medical center practiced and was prepared. you have to develop a mand center and commanding officer who can instruct the tri age needed. >> sounds like battlefield. >> it is like battlefield. you have to have a birn rooburn room, a broken bone room and a family room. >> dr. jen ashton talk about what was happening on the scene. >> i expect we'll hear about scenes of heroics

by lay people, bystanders and first responders. people on the scene in terms of mass tragedy and gunshot wounds can save lives by applying direct pressure. in the first seconds and minutes of a shooting what kills people is massive hemorrhage on the scene. yes, we absolutely expect total chaos on the scene and command centers from a position of trauma and triage to occur not just on the scene but sometimes outside the hospital in a tent, pal scenario and inside the hospital. very much like a ripple effect we will expect that level one trauma center at umc, which is the only one in the state of nevada, will be talking to the outlying hospital because obviously one level one trauma center cannot accommodate 400 patient within one to two hour

communication in terms of care and yes possibly some patients will need to be medevaced or flown as far as los angeles or other trauma centers. blood banks will be taxed. hospitals will go on emergency divertion. they have won't accept anymore patients in that immediate period of tieme. >> we heard from one of our reporters who said they were the walking wounded. they had an injury to the knee and were discharged. talk about the others in critical condition. this kind of ammunition that was used is -- causes such havoc on the body. >> the important thing is triage and life threatening injuries

surgeons and critical care specialists have to be there on site. one of the mistakes made is when we get called for a trauma everyone goes to the emergency room to help. a command center away from the emergency room is important. we're not supposed to go to the emergency room. we're supposed to go to a designated site and directed by the commander to go where we're needed. the first responders triage and if we're needed in the operating room we go there. >> sheriff, thank you for joining us. we learned from the police they found the shooter dead. what else was in that room. >> well, we're actually in the middle of serving that search warrant

have the opportunity to have it drafted and authored. we're just getting in there. i don't know the contents of the room in totality. i know there were a number of rifles in the room, significant number of cartridges. we have to wait a little while for a better assessment. you're always going to be looking for booby traps. it took us a while to get into the room. >> could you tell how the shooter died? >> we believe right now it was a self-inflicted gunshot room. >> are you confident at this point he acted a lone? >> i have a high level of confidence he

we'll be turning over every stone to find out what motivated him. he took over 50 innocent lives and wounded many others. we'll continue that part of the investigation. we'll continue to share the information as it develops. >> you concluded his companion marilou danley was not connected. how did you reach that conclusion and where did you find him? >> i'm not away of where that information came from. i can tell you you have -- we believe -- we know where she's out. we believe she's out of the country and we continue to want to speak to her. >> do you know where she is? >> i don't know if we have the exact location or not. if i did, i can't share that right now. >> like you've say the big question motive. what more have you been able to learn about the

what do you know? >> i can tell you he's a local resident. he's a 64-year-old white male. i can tell you there's nothing in any of our state, local or federal background checks, any of the computer systems we use to run that would indicate that this guy had an ax to grind with anybody. we really have not been able to uncover any law enforcement chiropractor any other grievance. obviously we have a long way to go. as you well know social media is a big piece today. we've got to figure out what we have as quickly as we can. >> no kind of criminal record at all. you talked about finding several weapons inside the room. could you tell whether these weapons were legally obtained or were they legal weapons? >> i

i don't know right now. obviously that's a huge part of what we'll be investigating. whether they're legal or illegal weapons i really don't know. >> sheriff thank you very much for your time. i know you have a lot more work to do. >> we'll continue to be live as new developments come in on the deadliest mass shootin havertys furniture helps your home look perfect even when life isn't. [doorbell] can somebody get that?

homework! it's mommy time! it's daddy time! i told you not to marry her. seriously?! alright. who's next? the columbus day sale is on now. havertys. life looks good ralphcandidate for governor,rtham, and i sponsored is ad. they're studying for 21st century jobs., but ed gillespie supports donald trump's plan to take money out of virginia public schools and give it to private schools. as a washington dc lobbyist, ed gillespie worked for lenders trying to keep student loan rates high. and ed gillespie's plan to cut taxes for the wealthy could cut virginia school funding, too. ed doesn't stand for education.

gl that was the scene at 10:08 las vegas time. deadliest mass shooting in american history. 50 dead, 200 wounded. matt gutman has been on the scene all night long. matt. >> one of the things frightening to me was not the shooting itself

afterwards. it was the people being moved on these makeshift stretchers and the heroism of people. we talked to one of the people and we said are you fine. she have said i'm fine. i just don't want to be here anymore. >>

thanks. pretty psyched. did you get fios too? no. mr. peterson, fios is a 100% fiber optic-network. what does that mean? think about it. if you got an awesome new car you'd put the best gas in it, right. so why hook up your awesome technology to anything other than a fiber-optic network? i got to go. peterson. peterson's wife. counting on you guys. your internet deserves the 100% fiber-optic network. and now get our fastest internet ever plus tv and phone for just $79.99 per month. reminds me of how geico hasd been saving people money for over 75 years. hey, big guy! come on in! let me guess your weight! win a prize! sure, why not. 12 ounces! sorry, mate. four ounces. i've been taking the stairs lately. you win, big guy. sorry, 'scuse me! oh, he looks so much more real on tv. yeah... over 75 years of savings and service. get your rate quote today.

>> we are back with our live coverage of the deadly mass shooting in las vegas. we want to go straight to the scene where the sheriff is holding a press conference. >> the fbi will be the housing of all the critical information. if you have anybody that has knowledge through your media sources and they want to provide that information, that's the avenue to go. once they receive an individual on the other side of the line, they'll walk them through the process and we'll get them to the on-line version so they can download the information. additionally the coroner's office as i repeated before has set up a number for individuals to call and that number is 1-866-535-5654. that is for individuals that do not have the abili

down to the headquarters to discuss their family and friends in person. the other critical piece associated with this in any mass casualty event is the need for blood. united blood services have their services set up currently. they're receiving patients or donors at 6930 west charleston and 601 whitney ranch in henderson. if you have the ability to donate blood to help the cause, please do so. additional the laborer's union is offering their medical facility at 7031 west is a ha ra for individuals that want to donate blood. umc has a pod set up for individuals to go to umc to donate blood. that will be the gist of the updates at this time. i'm happy to answer any

>> reporter: sheriff can you talk about what the scene was like in that room when your officers walked inside? >> we believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry. >> reporter: how many weapons was he found with? >> we're still going lieu the search warrant. it's in excess of 10 rifles. >> reporter: what's the status of marilou danley? >> we located her out of the country. we discovered he was utilizing some of her identification. we have had conversation with her. we believed her at this time not to be involved. obviously that investigation will continue. as far as his residence inn mesquite we have officers there serving a search warrant. >> reporter: anything yield ld by that search warrant? >> no we just made entry a matter of minutes ago. we're going to clear

residence first for any possible explosives. that will be slow and will take quite sometimes. >> reporter: marilou danley you said she was 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. i think it's important for you to notice who's standing behind me. we have chief -- greg castle. i'm sorry. greg castle has been integral in the saving of lives. they have paired up with officers out at the scene. i think their actions and heroic acts were instrumental in saving several hundred lives. then we have our attorney general. you have special agent in

aaron rausch of the fbi. they're providing all the resources available to help us in this endeavor. then you have clark county commission chairman. he has been instrumental in getting us resources to the first responders as far as refreshments and food and support of the entire county commission. i have been on the phone the entire night with the mayor caroline goodman. she responded to umc to check on the patients. she's in the process of visiting the other hospitals and showing the support of the city. obviously we have our congressman ruben to also show us our support. any other questions of the members standing before you? >> reporter: i know you've said this was not terror related. some people argue this is domestic terrorism. how do you differenciat