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At Least 20 Dead, 100+ Injured At Las Vegas Concert; Shooter Who Opened Fire From 32nd Floor of Hotel Is Dead; Authorities Searching For Woman Who Was Traveling With Suspect. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired October 02, 2017 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00] JAMES GAGLIANO, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: I know you were expressing concern this morning about people posting erroneous things on Facebook or social media and Twitter. And that hurts, it doesn't help the investigation.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Law enforcement were, I would say, irritated about that a little bit because there's one shooter, they say, and he is dead.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Resetting for you folks just now waking up at 5:30 eastern time, 2:30 there in Vegas, our breaking news this morning.
A mass shooting at a Jason Aldean concert at the Las Vegas village there, an outdoor venue. More than 30,000 concertgoers there.
According to the local sheriff, Joe Lombardo, more than 20 people have been killed, more than 100 injured. They are still getting a grasp on those totals.
Police officers among the injured. And according to Lombardo, one police officer has been killed. Information still just coming in about all of this.
ROMANS: We can tell you the suspect in this Las Vegas shooting is dead. Police say he has been killed. He was in a room on the 32nd floor with what clearly sounded like an automatic weapon.
We're going to let you listen for yourself to video. You can hear Jason Aldean -- you can hear him singing and then you can hear the confusion. Listen for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON ALDEAN, COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER: (Singing).
(Automatic weapon gunshots)
(Music stops)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get down, get down, stay down.
(Automatic weapons gunshots)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you believe it?
(Screaming)
(Automatic weapon gunshots)
(Screaming)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: All right, let's get to our Jean Casarez who is live in Las Vegas. She has talked with several eyewitnesses that were at the concert. Jean, what do you have?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think people right now are getting the stark realization of what has happened here.
And I want to let you know we're right here on the Las Vegas Strip. Behind me is the Mandalay Bay. We're about a mile away from where the hotel is.
And right across the street here is one of the runways of McCarran International Airport. So as you can see, it's all actually very close together.
But it was just about 10:08 tonight that shots were being fired from across the street from the concert where thousands of people were listening to Jason Aldean.
It was obvious to the concertgoers that I spoke with that the shots were coming from the hotel. One telling me that they looked up and they saw where the shots were coming from. We now know that was the 32nd floor.
But that is when the concertgoers realized, and Jason Aldean immediately got off the stage. The shots kept coming. Some described for me as minutes those shots continued. They all crouched down, sheltered in place, and then people started running for their lives to save their lives.
We do know from the police at this point that the shooter was apprehended by police on the 32nd floor. He was shot.
But there is a person of interest they are looking for right now. It is a female. Her name is Marilou Danley. She is an Asian female, four feet, 11, approximately 111 pounds.
They believe that the two were roommates and they are looking for her. They are calling her a person of interest -- that they want to speak to her.
Now, while the investigation is very active here on the Strip, for the first couple of hours we were here tonight we continually saw ambulances going into the scene. I would watch them come out. I would be able to see that they were treating people as the ambulances were on their way to the trauma centers here in Las Vegas.
There is a level one trauma center, we understand, that is at capacity tonight -- University Medical Center. There is a level two trauma center, also.
And at the headquarters of the Las Vegas Police Department, we understand the Red Cross is setting up for the families of victims can come. If you have loved ones and family members and you don't know where they are at this point, the Red Cross has that staging area for you to begin to get some answers.
[05:35:03] They also, at the Las Vegas police headquarters, have a retreat center for families who can come to just try to talk to and find out information for their loved ones.
At this point, they are saying at least 20 people are deceased but it is not a firm number. We were told at the last press briefing that they do not know at this point how many people are involved in this but greater than 100 people are injured.
And we do know one Las Vegas police officer in critical condition tonight, a second one in the hospital. But several off-duty Las Vegas police officers, we understand, were in the crowd listening to Jason Aldean's concert and it is believed they are deceased at this point also -- Christine, Dave.
ROMANS: All right, Jean Casarez. Thank you so much for that report. Keep at it on the ground getting more details for us and more information.
You mentioned that person of interest who they're looking for. This woman who they say is a roommate or a companion of the shooter.
They're not saying the name or the age of the shooter. They did say, however, the shooter is deceased and he is from Las Vegas. He's a local resident.
This woman's name is Marilou Danley. She is described as four foot, 11, 111 lbs., and they want to talk to her.
BRIGGS: All right.
We have a statement from the governor of Nevada, Brian Sandoval, who says the tragic and heinous act of violence has shaken the Nevada family. Our prayers are with the victims and all affected by this act of cowardice.
Jason Aldean has released a statement as well. Again, he was performing 10:00 local time towards the end of his set when the shooting began. Tonight has been beyond horrific, he says. I still don't know what to say but we want to let everyone know that me and my crew are safe. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming to enjoy what would have been a fun night.
That, from Jason Aldean, arguably, the most popular name in country music.
To give you a sense of how many people may have been there --
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: -- at least some 30,000 at a sold-out concert at the Harvest 91 Country Music Festival.
ROMANS: And it was right across the way from the Mandalay Bay Resort and we know the 32nd floor is where the shooter launched this assault.
We have a statement from Mandalay Bay.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of last night's tragic events. We are grateful for the immediate actions of our first responders.
Now, we know that MGM Resorts has sent out a statement as well, saying that law enforcement and emergency personnel responded quickly and secured the scene. They have requested that we put hotels in the vicinity on lockdown to ensure guest safety. They will provide more information as it becomes available.
But, Dave, we've been hearing from witnesses and just people, you know, around Las Vegas -- around Mandalay Bay who said that they were escorted out of the hotels. They had locked down all of the -- all of the elevator banks and the like. So there clearly is an exodus underway of folks in Las Vegas who have been taken off-site.
BRIGGS: Yes, and when you see that map, Christine, you get a sense of just how populated an area this is. Several hotels right there in the nearby vicinity -- Mandalay Bay, MGM, Monte Carlo, Tropicana, Luxor, and that's why in the initial moments after the shooting there were false rumors and reports of multiple shooters. Just the one shooter has been killed on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay.
Let's bring in our law enforcement experts Joe Giacalone and James Gagliano, retired FBI supervisory agent. Joe, a former NYPD officer.
James, let me start with you. What do you see, what do you hear with this video?
GAGLIANO: The volume and the repetitivity of shots, it convinces me that he had to have at least a couple of weapons or some type of drum- fed magazine because a standard assault rifle magazine is 20 or 30 rounds. And as I listen to this over and over again, and just the volume of shots. The second thing that strikes me is after the 45-second pause, the ensuing fire that came down, how quickly it was stopped and how quickly the Las Vegas Police Department and the sheriff's office were able to get there.
And again, in hostage rescue, something I did for four years with the FBI's HRT, four things have to occur -- speed, surprise, violence of action, and a failsafe breach. And for them to be able to get into his room, which I'm sure he barricaded, that quickly and neutralize the subject, it's incredible.
ROMANS: We know that one Las Vegas police officer has been badly wounded, in critical condition. Another has been wounded when they engaged him.
Talk to me a little bit about how difficult it is to secure a location like this. This is, Joe, a little bit different than some of these other mass shootings and lone wolf shooters that we've seen before. This is blowing out the windows of a 32nd-story building and mowing down people 300 feet below.
JOSEPH GIACALONE, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE SERGEANT, PROFESSOR, JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Yes, we haven't seen anything like this yet. I mean, unfortunately. I mean, just from the sheer crime scene aspect of it.
[05:40:00] I mean, you know, we had 9/11 here, of course. That was largest crime scene ever. But this is -- as far as mass shootings go, this is probably the largest crime scene we've had to deal with.
BRIGGS: Joe, do your thoughts go to Times Square, New Year's Eve and protecting soft targets like that here in Manhattan?
GIACALONE: Absolutely. I just -- it adds another dynamic to the planning that already goes into effect and they're going to be doing this now because, you know, think about how many people come from out of town.
They come to see -- you know, and we're not checking luggage. When you go into a -- you know, you don't check your luggage.
ROMANS: No.
GIACALONE: So this is going to be very interesting, you know. And, everybody wants a view of Times Square. Just by -- you know, he probably checked in and said I want a view of the concert.
ROMANS: Right.
GIACALONE: I want to be able to listen to it or see it. I mean, we need to talk -- they need to talk to the clerks when he checked in and stuff like that because this could all be foretelling.
And, of course, the social media posts.
ROMANS: Right. GIACALONE: That's going to be a big one when they look at it.
ROMANS: We assume there's going to be a lot of video of him checking him into the hotel. Anyone who's been to Las Vegas knows there are cameras everywhere --
GIACALONE: Casinos, yes.
ROMANS: -- you know. I mean, there are cameras everywhere.
So, presumably, they're looking through, James, all that material now?
GAGLIANO: Absolutely. And again, as I said earlier, I mean, Las Vegas, the strip, the Casinos, the hotels there, there are cameras everywhere. There's the eye in the sky everywhere.
What I also -- what struck me interesting about this is most of the terrorist attacks -- the mass shooting attacks that we've had in recent have been, in military terms, movements to contact where somebody is moving towards people to hurt them.
In this instance, you had somebody from a static position -- and we talked about earlier, reminiscent of October -- August first, 1966 and the University of Texas clock tower shooting -- the same type situation. In that instance, back in 1966, a hunting rifle and a couple of handguns and shooter was still able to kill 14 people.
Today, with this type of weaponry and ammunition he had, I fear that this death toll's going to climb.
ROMANS: I'm worried that you're right because Sheriff Joe Lombardo, from the Las Vegas Police Department, said they cannot give an accurate number. Reporters pressed him again and again and he said I cannot give you an accurate number.
We know that the shooter is dead but the situation, in terms of an active shooter, is now static. But now, it is trying to get people to the hospitals and find out what happened here. One-hundred-plus injured and 20-plus dead, he said.
BRIGGS: What he also said is they are searching for a companion of this local man -- the shooter who was killed. Her name, Marilou Danley, and we even have a photo of her for those of you in the Las Vegas area, if we can pull that up for the viewers at home.
Marilou Danley described as four foot, 11, 111-pound Asian woman traveling with this local man -- the shooter who has been killed on the 32nd floor.
James, where does this investigation go right now?
GAGLIANO: Well, to Joe's point earlier, I mean, the crime scene is still evolving. Once the crime -- once all the shooting is stopped and the crisis resolution has been -- has been diminished, meaning we're not worried about anybody else being killed. The Las Vegas sheriff is pretty confident that the one shooter has been neutralized. Now you can go into the crime scene piece, which is collecting the
evidence, and there's going to be a bunch of evidence harvested here. You're going to have the type of forensic evidence that's going to involve videotape, you know, from -- again, we talked about the hotels -- all the videotape there. Easy passes.
They've clearly got a vehicle here that they've got a person of interest that they're looking at. They're going to track that as well.
And then, all the cell phone video coverage --
ROMANS: Yes.
GAGLIANO: -- from all the people -- 30,000 people. I guarantee we're going to get a lot of that in.
ROMANS: I want to ask both of you. You're law enforcement experts. We look at these terrifying pictures. All of us go to places that are these soft targets.
Joe, what would you do if you were in that crowd? What would you recommend to your friends, children, relatives to do if they found themselves in a situation like this?
GIACALONE: Well, unfortunately, when you're in an open field like this and you're confined, to boot, you know, there's very little movement in these things. And unfortunately, the first thing that they do is they all lie down.
ROMANS: Is that good or bad?
GIACALONE: Well, that's got to be good because if you're standing you're a bigger target, especially when everyone else is laying down and the shooter doesn't know who is hit and who isn't. So if you just stay there as still as possible -- unfortunately, that's about the best thing that you can actually do in that situation.
ROMANS: James?
GAGLIANO: Well, keep in mind also, you remember back in 1979 at the "Who" concert? In something like this, you've got to be concerned about people stampeding through fear --
ROMANS: True.
GAGLIANO: -- and running over people.
What the FBI is teaching people to do right now in an active shooter system -- situation -- is this. First of all, run. If you can't run away and get away, hide. If you're not able to hide, your last resort then is to fight.
And, by all means, once you've gotten out of the situation -- removed yourself from the kill zone, which is what this was at this concert area -- then you've got to find law enforcement and you've got to share what you saw to help them piece together what happened.
BRIGGS: Well, one of those people that could describe exactly what went on is Brian Claypool. He's an attorney, he's a father. He was just feet away from the stage where Jason Aldean was performing.
He describes his terrifying ordeal in Vegas last night just a short time ago -- listen.
[05:45:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN CLAYPOOL, WITNESS, LAS VEGAS SHOOTING (via telephone): I can tell you right now, for the first time -- about 40 minutes ago is the first time I felt safe from when that shooting started. And I will tell you, my heart is still racing and it's still -- it's still palpitating.
I was sitting in the -- so, if Jason Aldean is looking out into the crowd, just to his left was an area called the Neon Lounge. It was a VIP area and that's where I was sitting, not far -- not far from the stage.
And, initially, I heard some popping sounds and I -- and I thought it was maybe fireworks because Jason was the last act. And I looked up in the air and I didn't see any fireworks so I became very concerned.
And, in fact, what was really eerie is that Jason Aldean kind of hesitated during the song and kind of got quiet for a couple of seconds. I knew something was wrong. And then -- and then the shooting started.
And then I saw -- the thing that struck -- that was really crystal in my mind was when I saw Jason Aldean drop his guitar. I just can't get that image out of my mind. Like, he just dropped it and just sprinted.
You know, I immediately got up. I was in the first row. And so, I am running and then trying to run up the aisle.
And then the shooting lasted, I'm not kidding you, it was -- I'm telling you, at least 10 to 15 seconds with an assault rifle. We're not talking a few like sporadic shooting. We're talking -- it could have been more than 15 seconds.
And I was leaning face-down on an aisle -- four people down and it stopped for a little bit. And then I got up and I -- and I raced down these stairs. And so, I, apparently, was in the line of fire -- I was in the line of fire because where we were was right next to Las Vegas Boulevard so I was on the side closest to the -- where the shooting was taking place.
But thankfully, there was a guy -- a very heroic guy -- you know, this little small room and he funneled about 20 of us into this little production -- like a little room under the bleachers. And I got to tell you how horrifying that was because I saw about six younger gals on their knees crying and I'm trying to calm them. And I'm thinking this is Orlando. I'm thinking -- I'm thinking we're
all going to die in this little room. What we -- see, the thing is we don't know where the shooter is. He could be across over this little fence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Can you imagine --
ROMANS: Incredible. I just can't imagine.
BRIGGS: -- the thoughts that run through your mind, Christine, when you're -- when you're a father and you think of your kids and --
ROMANS: It's just so tragic, too, that we don't know -- we don't -- police cannot give us an accurate number of the scope of this crime scene. We know at least 100-plus are injured, 20-plus are dead, so this is a tragic story that is bound to become even more tragic.
And we're going to show you video here that we have -- video of the last moments of the last song in Jason Aldean's set at the end of this Route 91 Harvest Fest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON ALDEAN, COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER: (Singing).
(Automatic weapon gunshots)
(Music stops)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh, oh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get down, get down, stay down.
(Automatic weapon gunshots)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you believe it?
(Screaming)
(Automatic weapon gunshots)
(Screaming)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: We saw Jason Aldean throw down his guitar and run off that stage.
He's issued a statement tonight. Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still don't know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that me and my crew are safe. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night.
BRIGGS: The governor of Nevada, Brian Sandoval says a tragic and heinous act of violence has shaken the Nevada family. Our prayers are with the victims and all affected by this act of cowardice.
[05:50:00] Let's bring in our law enforcement experts, James Gagliano and Joe Giacalone.
Joe, is it important at this point that we call this terrorism.
GIACALONE: Well, not yet. I mean, we don't have any of the facts just yet.
But, I mean, you look at what happened in the world yesterday between Canada and France, and then you also -- in May, ISIS called for attacks in Las Vegas. I'm not saying this is terrorism yet. We don't know enough.
But, you know, these are things that are on law enforcement's front page. They're looking into this and they're going to be, you know, combing this person's social media page. It's important that they do all these things ahead of time.
BRIGGS: You're a professor, as well. What type of shooter might do something like this? What might you know about the profile? What might you guess about the profile of someone like this?
GIACALONE: Well, somebody who has been racialized on whatever front they're on, whether it is -- you know, whatever -- I'm not a psychologist but, you know, whatever psychoses this person has, I mean, to be able to do this. I mean, you're talking about totally just gunning down people for no -- for no reason. So, I mean, just think about the mindset involved in that.
ROMANS: I want to be clear. We don't have a motive. The folks there on the ground who are investigating this are simply -- it's just simply too soon.
They have a person of interest, a woman who's a companion of the deceased shooter.
They'll only tell us the shooter is local. He's from Las Vegas. He did not travel to the area from out of town. He is from there.
He did this from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. That's terrifying when you think of how cowardly, but how many people you could hurt hidden up there.
GAGLIANO: Christine, I got to tell you. From the hostage-rescue perspective, from the crisis resolution perspective, the paradigm has shifted. In this instance, it's so similar to what we're seeing now, which is they're not looking -- whoever these folks are -- and again, you point out whatever their political motivations are.
I think it's safe to assume that we could say that this is terror until it's disproven, but what the political motivations are, we just don't know yet but we'll get to that.
But here's where the paradigm has shifted. I don't want to say that, you know, hostage negotiators are going to become obsolete but in these instances, these folks are not looking to negotiate their way out. They're not looking for settlement. They're not looking to get their comrades released.
What they're looking to do is to wreak as much havoc as they can and murder as many people, and then either die by self-inflicted gunshot wound or suicide by cop.
ROMANS: And sometimes there's not a political motive.
GAGLIANO: No.
ROMANS: I mean, Adam Lanza at Sandy Hook. That was a demented, deranged person.
GAGLIANO: Demented person, absolutely.
GIACALONE: Yes. This one seems to be a little planning involved in it, though, like the location where the hotel room is. So, you know, I think that there is some planning. So this person was definitely, you know, going to something terrible so I think that has to be taken into consideration, that premeditation factor.
GAGLIANO: Malice of forethought.
BRIGGS: Of course.
Many of you just waking up at 5:52 eastern time, just about 3:00 a.m. there in Vegas.
The shooting -- shots rang out about 10:00 local time, towards this end of this Jason Aldean concert -- the Route 91 Harvest Festival. An outdoor venue in the midst of Mandalay Bay, MGM, several surrounding casinos -- 30,000 there. Jason Aldean, the biggest name in country music. Needless to say, this was a sell-out.
And now, you get a good sense of this map just how crowded this area is.
Joe Lombardo, the sheriff in the Las Vegas Police Department, says at least 20 killed, at least 100 injured. Police officers are among both, Christine.
ROMANS: And we talk about soft targets with our law enforcement experts here. You know, the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester earlier this year. People walking down the street in Las Rambla in Barcelona. What is your sense of how authorities deal with this or is this something that can't be prevented, Joe?
GIACALONE: Well, I think it keeps a lot of them up at night, you know. This is -- especially living in New York City where you have so many areas that we refer to as soft targets.
I mean, if you look at the -- you know, the last couple of attacks where they're using cars and trucks to run people over, you know, at bridges and stuff like that. I mean, just look at Manhattan. We have so many of these locations.
And remember, we had just a car accident in Times Square --
ROMANS: That's right.
GIACALONE: -- a few months ago. It was just somebody who was, you know DWI and caused a lot of mayhem, too.
So, you know what? When we have so many people packed into a small area anything can happen at any time. And like you were saying before about just a stampede effect could be a potential big problem for us.
BRIGGS: We do have an eyewitness to the shooting who was at the concert to describe the terror that unfolded there at this concert, 10:00 local time in Vegas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE, EYEWITNESS, LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: Everyone said hit the floor so everyone was just like literally laying on top of each other trying to get out of the way and the shots just kept coming.
And so we're going down and when we got down there was a man that was shot right there. They were trying to take him out. He was all bloody and he was unconscious and one of my friends was helping him out and they got him out.
And we ran and everybody's hiding everywhere. I mean, they're hiding under the bleachers, in the stanchions and anywhere they could, and everyone's telling us to run. Run as fast as you can.
[05:55:07] My husband and I ran out toward our car and there were people hiding underneath my car for cover and there was a gentleman that was shot and he said can you help me. And so, I put him in my car and I had like six people in my car. People without shoes running just to get away. And --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, you were so strong. And, Christine, we talked about before you came on camera about how you just tried to scramble and help people as best as you could.
Could you talk about -- you had your vehicle and you knew you had to get them help.
CHRISTINE: We had a gal that was with this couple that the guy had been shot in the back -- or in the backside and I thought he was going to be OK but he was bleeding, and so he wasn't as serious to shove him into the ambulance that was right there so I took him in my car.
And she said can I drive because she worked for Metro. And we got to the hospital so quick you wouldn't believe it. But anyway, she drove.
And I went to Sunrise Hospital and my husband went in another car with another man that was unconscious to UMC. And I'm here right now because he's in there with my friend whose daughter is only 18 and she got shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that is absolutely tragic and we appreciate your bravery.
CHRISTINE: I'm just trying to get in the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that is a struggle. So, when you came here you were trying to get into the people who you knew. What were you told and why?
CHRISTINE: Oh, what was I told here? An officer said that they're just taking precautions.
So, you know, I mean, there are crazy people out there. They shot into a crowd of 30,000 people in a concert. It's insane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And, as you reflect on this terrible event, what sticks out right now?
CHRISTINE: I want to be with my family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: I want to bring back in James, real quickly.
We have a person of interest. They're looking for a woman. They've released her picture.
What do law enforcement -- what is the -- what are they doing right now trying to find her?
GAGLIANO: The first and most important thing is to set up a perimeter as far out as you think that person could have gotten from the time the gunshots started around 10:08.
And then, they've got to collect all the -- they've got to do a harvesting of all the forensic intelligence they can. That's going to be any bit of camera evidence that they have, videotapes in the hotels, in the casinos of where that car was because even on the Vegas Strip there are cameras everywhere. So tracking that car.
And then, a big piece of this is the human intelligence, which is going to be interviewing as many people as possible that might have come in contact with that person or seen something during the shooting. ROMANS: Authorities are asking -- they say if you have cell phone video of this event, look at it, review it, bring it to us if you think it can help in this investigation.
BRIGGS: You can only imagine the terror that unfolded there for those 20,000-30,000 concertgoers. Ten o'clock local time shots were fired. Forty-five seconds passed of complete chaos and then the shots began ringing out again.
The sheriff there in Las Vegas reporting at least 20 killed, at least 100 injured. Police officers among both numbers. The shooter has been killed on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.
ROMANS: What really struck me about the press briefing that we had from the sheriff there, Joe Lombardo, is that he can't give an accurate number. And reporters kept asking, you know, can you give us an accurate number and he said I cannot. I can tell you at least 20 are killed, 100-plus injured.
It just shows you the scope of this tragedy. A man 32 stories in the air firing an automatic weapon into the crowd. Just horrible.
BRIGGS: Our thoughts and prayers with everyone there in the Las Vegas area.
Our coverage picks up now with John Berman and Alisyn Camerota on "NEW DAY."
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We do want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Monday, October second, 6:00 here in New York.
John Berman joins me in the studio. Chris is in Puerto Rico for us.
But we have breaking news for all of you. At least 20 people are dead and more than 100 injured after a gunman opens fire at an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Concertgoers captured the terror as hundreds of gunshots rang out from what sounds like an automatic weapon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(Automatic weapon gunshots)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Las Vegas police are confirming that the suspect is now dead but they are looking for another person of interest at this hour. They're also searching for two vehicles.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The chaos unfolding at the Route 91 Harvest Festival near the Mandalay Bay Resort while country music singer Jason Aldean was performing.
