On October 1st, 2017, an act of domestic terrorism was committed in Las Vegas, Nevada. Considered to be one of the bloodiest massacres in U.S. history, Stephen Paddock killed at least 59 people and wounded at least 400 hundred more. The shooting occurred during the three-day Route 91 Harvest festival when Jason Aldean was performing in a crowd of nearly 22,000 people. “Unfortunately, I’m not too surprised… I’m not surprised at the world around us nowadays,” said senior Jayven Padilla.
Paddock, 64, from Mesquite, Nevada, started the shooting at 10:08 PM local time from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Gunshots continued for 10 to 15 minutes continuously, scaring away people attending the concert. “What’s unique for us is the gunman, the shooter, and the person with him, we in the Mesquite Police Department have not had any contact with these people in the past. We haven’t had any traffic stops, any law enforcement contact, no arrests or nothing,” Mesquite police spokesman Quinn Averett said.
Over a hundred patients entered the University Medical Center, including four who died and another 12 who were in critical condition. However not all injuries were from gunshots; several people suffered injuries due to being trampled while fleeing from the attacker or trying to jump fences. “It’s sad, why would someone do that? People are scared to even go anywhere without being afraid of something happening,” said senior Mohamed Meky.
Paddock had 17 firearms in his suite at the time, including a handgun. “We retrieved in excess of 18 additional firearms, some explosives, and several thousand rounds of ammo,” Sheriff Lombardo said.
The most shocking aspect of this case was that this attack seemed as though it was unprovoked. It was a random attack on 22,000 innocent people; Paddock’s motive is still unclear. To make the situation worse, after the attack Paddock proceeded to take his own life, meaning that the motives for this attack will never be completely known. “People really need to be careful, the government really needs to do something about it,” said Meky.
From the Virginia tech shootings, to the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting, the killing of innocent American citizens will always leave a lasting impression on American’s psyche. “This happened in Las Vegas, a tourist attraction, what’s stopping it from happening in D.C.?” said Padilla.