Crime & Safety

Las Vegas Shooting: Connecticut Connection Emerges In Deadliest Shooting in U.S. History

At least 50 people were killed and more than 400 injured after a gunman opened fire on a country concert on the Las Vegas strip.

TORRINGTON, CT — The father of a local woman was one of the 59 victims killed in Las Vegas Sunday night, reports the Register Citizen. Kurt Von Tillow, the father of Jessica Giampaolo and father-in-law of Nicholas Giampaolo, was killed when a gunman rained down bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

Nicholas Giampaolo's father, Charlie Giampaolo, told the publication that Von Tillow, 55, and his family met up at the concert as they had done for each of the past four years. Two other family members were shot but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.


The Victims Of The Las Vegas Shooting

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Nicholas Giampaolo is the owner of a local wine store. As of 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, Von Tillow's death is the first from the shooting with a known connection to Connecticut.

At 10:08 p.m. local time in Las Vegas, a gunman began opening fire on a 22,000-person crowd that gathered for a Jason Aldean concert. The barrage lasted for about 30 seconds, and then there was a pause before the shots started again. People climbed over each other, running for safety as people were shot around them.

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Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo said the shooter is dead and identified him as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada. Lombardo said that Paddock had killed himself before officers entered the hotel room. Authorities believe Paddock acted alone.

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Sen. Chris Murphy called out fellow legislators for being afraid of the gun industry and said there aren't public policy responses to the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

“This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren't public policy responses to this epidemic," Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement on his website. "There are, and the thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference. It's time for Congress to get off its ass and do something."

Read more from the Register-Citizen here.

Image: David Becker/Stringer/Getty Images News/ Getty Images

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