Vegas Shooting With Link to Video of Opening Fire
Last night a crazy single "white" male went on a shooting spree with an illegally acquired fully automatic rifle at a concert in Vegas, Nevada. I want to share some information about the incident to help my fellow Steemians.
A video taken by someone at the concert gives you a good example of how these incidents begin. Many people said they thought it was fireworks, but that is clearly automatic gun fire. The long reload times tells you the shooter isn't very skilled with the weapon either.
If you hear that in a large crowded space, immediately drop to the ground and seek cover.
Cover is something that is bullet proof. If there is none near you, look for concealment instead. Then after you have done that, you need to identify the direction of fire. Once you know where the shooting is coming from by both listening and looking (if you decide to take the risk), move out of the area as quickly as possible away from the threat. As you leave the area, watch out for other shooters too. A lot of these incidents involve multiple attackers.
Until you are completely clear of the area, do not let your guard down.
An unidentified woman was escorted out of the concert apparently for walking around telling people "you're all going to die." Don't ignore such warnings. Sure, it could simply be a crazy person, but it could also be a real warning. If I had heard that woman's rant, I probably would not have stayed at the concert.
From what the news is reporting, the man had a history of problems. As usual with these situations, nothing was done about him. The police knew about him already, he obtained his weapon unlawfully, and he shouldn't have had it because of mental illness issues.
There is no way to defend against these types of attacks.
Even being armed and pinpointing the shooter's location doesn't help. You could not have responsibly shot back at the hotel. You can understand how best to respond to them when they occur though. They do not happen very often, and the likelihood of you being involved is very low. However, please keep the above tips in mind, for they may save your life.
Updates:
Running feed with updated information can be found at https://twitter.com/i/moments/914727306199003136. The man killed himself as police made entry to his hotel room.
Zerohedge has a good article up with more background information: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-02/who-was-las-vegas-shooter-stephen-paddock-and-what-was-his-motive
Thanks to @jinmi17 for this update. ISIS has apparently taken credit for the shooting saying the man converted months ago. That seems pretty far fetched, but anything is possible: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/isis-claims-responsibility-for-las-vegas-killings-calls-shooter-one-of-its-soldiers/article/2636251
The shooter's father was on FBI's 10 most wanted list and was a convicted bank robber: https://twitter.com/DelWilber/status/914888668262871040/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fnews%2F2017-10-02%2Fwho-was-las-vegas-shooter-stephen-paddock-and-what-was-his-motive
According to the updated ZeroHedge article above, the shooter was a heavy gambler.
SSRI's were almost certainly involved. The little black box warning label admits they make some people suicidal. They fail to mention that those suicidal thoughts often include taking people with you when you go. If you or anyone you love is on antidepressants, I urge you to go to ssristories.org and learn the truth about the dangers of these drugs. Or go to my post about in the "suicide" tag and read about my personal experience.
This is the list of the past incidents involving psych meds and mass shootings.
https://www.ammoland.com/2013/04/every-mass-shooting-in-the-last-20-years-shares-psychotropic-drugs/
Thanks for sharing that, I had not seen that list before.
Agreed. The meds people get put on often make them suicidal and violent at the same time. It's a dangerous combination. This guy had a history of issues too like the Virginia Tech shooter. Why all the warning signs with people like them are ignored, I will never understand.
great point @finnigan...we studied those meds in psychology college...they will make a person that has problems batshit crazy...this "conspiracy theorist" wonders if this is some fall guy in another false flag event :O
This is a good post. Apparently there were many reports of shooters at other hotels/locations. It is strange to me that the police narrowed it down so nice and clean to only "one suspect" so quickly. Anyway, this is fucking sad. Bless these people.
Thank you and agreed! I really want to know if the man was on anti-depressants or other mind altering doctor prescribed drugs.
Me too.
This is truly horrendous. I try to avoid crowds and observe my surroundings at all times. We are all going to have to be more vigilant in this crazy world.
I don't like them, but sometimes they are unavoidable. It's sad but for 4th of July I went with my family to a park to see fire works. While there though, I made sure we sat down next to a vehicle barrier. /sigh
What a sad event, my condolences to the victims' families and friends.
What do you think about the security forces response in general though? They seemed to have been quite fast and effective even though the damage was unfortunately already done. Locating the assailant via the hotels smoke detector to pick up on the gunpowder combustion discharge was some quick thinking in my opinion.
It would have been pretty easy to find him with all the noise being made. Few people there would have been able and capable of a meaningful response though. Do we know if regular police went in right away, or did they wait for a SWAT team? It is definitely a sad day. :(
Another nugget of info:
I'd hate for that footage to 'get lost.'
The ISIS report isn't be talked about much either. Whether it is true or not, it is still an interesting fact. I had to really dig to find the link I posted above.
I'm sure they would claim a moldy ham sandwich! Not much indication that it was that kind of attack but then again, there isn't much on motive at all thus far.
Congratulations @finnian! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPSad to read about insane mind. Huge loss. Enhanced security and alert citizens is the need of hour. Thanks for escape suggestions.
You're very welcome.
Horrible the large crowd makes it much harder to seek cover. I give my prayers to the families of the fallen ones.
It's not an ideal situation. I read one guy laid down on top of his kids, and people were walking on him as they rushed to escape.
You're still better off immediately dropping to the ground at first. Don't stay there though. Get "off the X" as many trainers call it. You want to beat feet out of the area as quickly as possible.
I'm from the Netherlands and I have been following this with shock and disgust. How can you cause this pain to others is beyond me and true evil I could never understand ever, thankfully. R.I.P. to all the victims and support to their loved ones.
These never make sense. They are lunatic predators. That's also why laws won't stop them. If they don't have a gun, they'll use a vehicle.
My heart goes out to all those families that have lost loved ones. I have so many questions on that shooter, wonder what his background was. How did he check into the hotel with more than 10 guns and ammunition? Just one mistake by the security personnel has cost us lots of innocent lives. God bless all families involved.
It would not have been difficult to bring the weapons into his room.