Las Vegas, Nevada experienced a mass shooting resulting in mass casualties on Sunday, Oct. 1. According to CNN, it is the deadliest shooting in U.S. history with over 50 deaths and more than 500 who were injured in the attack.  

The shooting took place at a country music festival called The Harvest Festival which was taken place at the Mandalay Bay Casino. Music performer Jason Aldean was on stage at the time of the shooting.

The shooter shot down at the festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. Bullets rained down on the crowd as people began to run and take cover.

According to CNN, Stephen Paddock, a 64 year old male has been identified as the gunman. Paddock checked into the Mandalay Bay hotel several days prior to the shooting. When police arrived to the room, he was found dead from a fatal gunshot wound that authorities believe was intentional.

According to New York Post, the shooter’s motive is still a mystery. No clues have been found, even after searching his home and interviewing his friends and family. People have felt this to be severely upsetting that a man can plan and take action on a mass shooting with no problem.

“You get to the point where you almost want to give up on society. As society’s needs changes, we have become a society that is polarized and until we as a society change, unfortunately we will continue to see these issues,” Plymouth Police Officer Joel Franz said.

The events in Las Vegas have affected people everywhere including people in the Twin Cities. Ranya Phelps is the owner of the Indulge and Bloom group which specializes in floral and event planning. She has been concerned for her own events with the recent tragedies.

“Support staff must be alert and observing the event environment as well as the intermediate surrounding areas. Facilitating a safe, but not overly oppressive event requires weighing risks and developing a subtle network of communication between event teammates and having an open minded holistic evaluation of potential threats,” Phelps said.  

“I think that since there has been so much violence at concerts and festivals, it would be a good idea to have higher/more secure security at these types of events,” frequent concert goer Alayna Ahlstrom said.

Witnesses and survivors have a long road of recovery ahead of them as they begin to heal from this tragic event. According to Rollingstone, people who were at the event will experience psychological issues such as PTSD and some will even suffer from physical issues.

“The worst part of it was seeing the people from the concert still dressed in their country clothes with blood splatters on them walking back into the hotel the next morning after the lockdown had been lifted. The looks on their faces was something that I have never seen before and something that I will never forget. They looked purely shocked and in such disbelief,” witness Christi Johnson said.

According to KABC, a realtor in Nevada has offered to pay for funeral costs of the Las Vegas victims. It is expected that he could spend up to $1 million for transportation, flower arrangements, caskets, and burial costs.