Mass murder at Mandalay Bay

I’m angry today. Angry because, for whatever reason, Las Vegas has become the site of the biggest incident of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, as gunman Stephen Paddock  killed at least 50 people (subsequently updated to 58) at a Mandalay Bay concert and wounded 515 others, from among a crowd of 22,000. (Perhaps we should be thankful the death toll was not worse, given the target-rich environment.)

Perched in a 32-floor room, Paddock made Mandalay Bay’s mid-Strip festival arena his killing zone, gunning down Jason Aldean concertgoers by the score, in a nauseating rat-a-tat of automatic weapons fire. Las Vegas Metro eventually breached the sniper’s nest, Paddock having gone the Adolf Hitler route and killed himself but not until he’d left a field of carnage that gave Las Vegas a “most ever” milestone in history that it never wanted. “As far as we know, Steve was perfectly fine,” said brother Eric Paddock, but since when do mass murderers telegraph their intentions in advance?

Paddock had 17 rifles and automatic weapons with him (and, as any reader of the Las Vegas Review-Journal knows, Americans should own as many assault rifles as possible), which he was able to smuggle into the hotel. These were obviously of a high power, given the distance — at least 900 feet — between the hotel and the Random Harvest festival grounds, across the Strip (see map). In the past I’ve faulted MGM Resorts International for its laissez-faire attitude toward armed robberies on or near the casino floor, but last night’s slaughter takes the need for improved security into a new echelon altogether. (To the company’s credit, it has set up grief-counseling centers in a ballrooms of Circus Circus.) The source of Paddock’s madness is currently unknown but it seems to be part of a larger wave sweeping our society: Over the weekend a report of “multiple active shooters” had the Air Force Academy in lockdown.

Concertgoers went above and beyond the call of duty. Per one report, “Bystanders sprang into action, caring for the wounded and at least one of them described a man’s dying in his arms … Bystanders made makeshift stretchers out of police barricades, plugged wounds with their hands and used their clothing to try to stanch the bleeding from the wounded.”

For their part, police — dealing with “a lone wolf-type actor,” have to hope that Paddock’s girlfriend Marilou Danley (quickly taken into custody) can give them some insight into what looks at first blush like sheer madness, as perhaps can the location and search of Paddock’s vehicle — “a Hyundai Tucson with the Nevada license plate 114 B40,” according to the R-J.

In the chaos following the massacre, Metro had to deal with cry-wolf reports of gunmen at other casinos, none of which were true. Those fleeing the south-Strip kill zone sometimes ran as far as to Hooters Hotel Casino, seeking shelter. (Hotels near Mandalay Bay were in lockdown.) The disorder even extended to McCarran International Airport, where at least 25 flights were diverted because of the gunfire.

Among those issuing statements of condolence were President Trump and Pope Francis, with Trump expected to weigh in at length by the time you read this. In the meantime, Metro has opened a “family reunification center” at 400 S. Martin L. King Blvd. Police said they didn’t believe Danley knew anything about the shooting — although your boyfriend’s 10 assault rifles would be hard to ignore, especially when he schleps them from Mesquite to Vegas.

It could have been worse: Concertgoers in flight found themselves bottlenecked by fences in the festival area and along McCarran’s periphery. Both were pulled down. ISIS was quick to claim credit for the attack but I don’t believe those lice, although I agree with Trump that this was “an act of pure evil.” Perhaps we are dealing with the “motiveless malignancy” that has been ascribed to Shakespeare’s Iago. Maybe Paddock just wanted to go into the history books by taking as many people as he could with him. The Mandalay massacre will reopen the gun-control debate afresh, as well as it should. Whatever the proposed solution turns out to be, this is not a “Nothing to see here, keep moving” moment for America.

* While we’re on the subject of murder, convicted felon O.J. Simpson is Las Vegas’ newest celebrity resident. Sin City’s problem could eventually become Florida‘s but Sunshine State Attorney General Pam Bondi says, “If we have to accept him, I certainly want conditions placed on him.”