Whether you live on a ranch in Colorado, a loft in New York City, down in the bayou of Louisiana, or in a little rural town in Texas; country music is something brings people from different backgrounds together.
This past weekend, thousands of country music fans gathered in Las Vegas, for the Route 91 Harvest country music festival. The festival had been a wonderful weekend with fans gathering to watch the hottest country stars perform at the renowned festival.
As Jason Aldean was closing out the festival Sunday night, a gunman opened fired turning the festival into the worst mass shooting U.S. history. At least 50 people are dead with more than 400 believed to be injured according to multiple news sources.
The Guardian has reported that during the concert the gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite Nevada opened fire on the crowd from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel.
“It was very obvious it was gunfire coming down into the crowd,” said Jackie Hoffing, who lives in Las Vegas. “It was hysteria. There were people trampled … I was with my husband. He stayed with me. We jumped walls, climbed cars, ran for our lives. I’ve never run that hard or been that scared in my whole life.”
Early Monday morning Clark County Sherriff Joe Lombardo reported that the suspect was killed inside the casino during a confrontation with police.
Following the shooting, authorities shut down the southern end of the Las Vegas strip with many flights being diverted to other airports.