Crime & Safety
Las Vegas Shooting 'Unimaginable,' Witness Jake Owen Says
"No one knew where to go," country music singer and Winter Haven native Jake Owen said of the Sunday night mass shooting in Las Vegas.
WINTER HAVEN, FL — “I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight,” country music singer Jake Owen tweeted out shortly after the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history unfolded at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. “We are okay,” the Winter Haven native continued. “Others aren’t. Please pray.”
Owen, 36, was performing at the three-day country music festival. Shots rang out while Jason Aldean was on stage, entertaining a crowd of more than 20,000 outside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Owen was also on stage when bullets began flying. (For more local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Lakeland Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)
"It was just chaos," said Owen. "People just started scrambling."
Find out what's happening in Lakelandfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Watch: Concert Erupts In Chaos After Vegas Massacre
Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo reported Monday morning the shooter, who perched in a room on the hotel’s 32nd floor, is Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada. Paddock, Lombardo said, was dead by the time officers breached his room. Before Paddock’s death, police say he killed at least 50 people and left more than 400 injured.
Find out what's happening in Lakelandfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The number of dead is expected to keep rising. The incident has already passed last year's Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando that saw 49 people killed and 58 injured.
The shots were first reported around 10:08 p.m. local time Sunday night.
Owen was among many who spoke to the bravery and fast response of police and other emergency workers.
Gun shots were ringing off of the stage rigging and road cases. No one knew where to go..thank you LVPD and responders for keeping us safe
— Jake Owen (@jakeowen) October 2, 2017
While Owen shared a first-person account of the Las Vegas tragedy, people throughout the Tampa Bay and Florida also took to Twitter Monday morning to share their grief, express condolences and simply to ask why.
.@FLAnnScott and I are praying for Las Vegas and all the innocent lives senselessly taken.
— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) October 2, 2017
Senseless. https://t.co/KjZOrQGSUw
— Rick Kriseman (@Kriseman) October 2, 2017
Devastating news out of Las Vegas this morning. Please keep the city & community in your hearts, sending as much love & strength as we can.
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) October 2, 2017
ICYMI you can be a hero in Tampa too and donate blood here in honor of our family/friends of Las Vegas #vegasshooting #donateblood
— Paige DePagter (@paigechadwickd) October 2, 2017
Police on Monday were searching Paddock's home in Mesquite for possible clues to what led him to go on the shooting spree. Families and friends searching for information about loved ones who were at the concert may call 1-866-535-5654.
Patch’s Colin Miner contributed to this story.
Photo via AP Photo/John Locher
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
