Las Vegas Shooter identified as 64-year-old White Man

The suspected gunman in the mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas has been named as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock.

At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 injured at the Route 91 country music event near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

It is the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, with the death toll surpassing the 49 killed at a nightclub in Orlando in June 2016.

Witnesses described seeing flashes of light high up in the tower of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and a sound “like firecrackers” as “clip after clip” was unloaded into the 40,000-strong crowd.

Paddock, a grandfather from Mesquite, Nevada, was believed to have been firing down at concert-goers from the 32nd floor.

A Swat team used a controlled explosion to enter the hotel room, where Paddock was found dead, according to a police statement.

Announcing the suspect’s name, Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said police had “located numerous firearms”, including rifles, in the hotel room. A search of Paddock’s house was due to take place shortly.

Sheriff Lombardo said Paddock was born on 9 April 1953, adding: “As far as history and background we haven’t completed that part of the investigation.”

Police previously said they did not believe the suspect was connected to militant groups.

Records show Paddock lived in a three-year-old, $396,000 (£297,554) two-bedroom home in the small retirement and golf community of Mesquite, 80 miles north east of Las Vegas near the Arizona state border.

Local media said he had also previously lived in Reno, Nevada, California and Florida.

The suspect’s brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news.

“We have no idea. We’re horrified. We’re bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims,” Eric Paddock told Reuters in a telephone conversation, his voice trembling. “We have no idea in the world.”

Sheriff Lombardo said: “We are looking at in excess of 50 individuals dead and over 200 individuals injured … Obviously this is a tragic incident and one that we have never experienced in this valley. My condolences go out to the loved ones.”

Las Vegas police department confirmed that two off-duty police officers were among the dead.

At least two on-duty officers were also injured. One is in a stable condition after surgery and another sustained minor injuries.

The FBI – including federal crime scene investigators – were assisting the Las Vegas police, Sheriff Lombardo said, adding: “It is going to be a long and tedious investigation.”

He said police had found a 62-year-old female companion of the shooter called Marilou Danley. They had launched a public manhunt for Ms Danley, but later said she was no longer a person of interest.

US President Donald Trump responded to the massacre on Twitter, saying: “My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!”