A little before one late last night (Gainesville time) I turned off the TV and went to bed...a short time before the breaking news story that is dominating the airwaves today: a lone gunman massacred at least 58 people and injured more than 500 during the last day of an open-air country music concert in Las Vegas. The alleged perpetrator, who stationed himself in a 32nd floor suite at the Mandalay Bay hotel overlooking the event and then shot himself dead as the police approached his room, is identified as Stephen Paddock, a 64-year old resident of Mesquite on the outskirts of Las Vegas. As of this writing, no motives have yet been determined. It looks as if Paddock, who had rented out his hotel room since Thursday, gradually smuggled in one automatic weapon after another until he finally had a considerable arsenal...and then knocked out two different windows as he began shooting while country music star Jason Aldean was performing. At first, many of the reported 23,000 there thought the gun sounds were fireworks...but as the carnage became apparent and Aldean and his entourage fled the stage, a general panic ensued as the endangered spectators tried to escape the fire...
My heart and prayers go out to all those directly affected by this tragedy, as well as their families and friends. It looks once again as if the first responders...especially the police and firemen...were heroes as they bravely exposed themselves to hostile fire and put their own lives on the line to help people find shelter from the deadly barrage...
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