Mandalay Bay Mass Murder in Las Vegas Details Sparse, probably 100 rd mags

Image from Youtube

There has been another horrific mass murder. This one was perpetrated in Las Vegas. Attendees at the Route 91 country music festival were targeted. The shooting occurred at about 10:30 p.m. at the Mandalay Bay outdoor location.

A shooter fired down on the crowd from a hotel balcony, reportedly from the 32nd floor.

The shooting bears an eerie resemblance to the opening scene in Matt Bracken's distopian novel, "Enemies Foreign and Domestic".

We do not know what weapons were used, the background of the shooter, or his motives.

Speculation abounds that the shooter is related to Antifa, or the left, because of the targeting of a country music festival.

We do not know much at this time.

A retired firearms police instructor has listened to Youtube videos of the event.  At least 10 seconds of uninterrupted fire. That translates to 100 rounds at a reasonable cyclic rate.  Hundreds of rounds fired. There were 20-30 seconds between bursts, which indicates a long time for a magazine change or a rifle jam.

There are reports that several rifles were found in the hotel room, which had been booked well in advance.  Numbers of eight and ten have been reported.

Update: the Route 91 Harvest Festival is a gun free zone. 

 There appears to have been considerable planning involved. The gunman moved around a lot. The house he purchased in Florida was only occupied a couple of months out of two years.

 Update: Father of shooter was on FBI most wanted list for a long time. Shooter described himself as "professional  gambler and world traveller. From Orlando Sentinel:

She said he described himself as a world traveler and "professional gambler by trade" and said he once showed her a picture of himself winning a $20,000 slot-machine jackpot.

Shooter does not appear to have children. Brother Eric does not appear to have children.  Not sure if there are other family members.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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