Editor’s note: This story has to be updated since its original publication to reflect the reported death toll as of 10:53 a.m.
A frightening trend is emerging from mass shootings, The Washington Post reports: The death tolls are rising.
At least 58 people are dead and 515 more injured in a mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night—the worst in modern U.S. history. The death toll—though not yet fully known—is already twice the toll of the deadliest shooting in history.
Just 16 months ago, Omar Mateen, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Before that, the record was held by the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, in which 32 people were killed.
The Las Vegas gunman has been identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada. He had checked into a Mandalay Bay hotel on Thursday, authorities tell The Associated Press.
Authorities believe Paddock was a “lone wolf.” And the U.S. Homeland Security Department said there was no “specific credible threat” involving other public venues in the U.S.
The FBI says the shooter had no connection to an international terrorist group. The announcement from Special Agent in Charge Aaron Rouse at a news conference comes after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack without providing evidence.
The extremist group claimed that the shooter was “a soldier” who had converted to Islam months ago. It has made exaggerated or false claims in the past.
President Donald Trump has called the mass shooting attack in Las Vegas “an act of pure evil” and says he will travel to Las Vegas Wednesday.
