Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

City of Lights in Chaos; Celebration Turned into Night of Fear. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 2, 2017 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

NATALIE ALLEN, HOST, CNN: If you are just joining us, 3 a.m. in the morning here on the east coast. Midnight in Las Vegas and we're following breaking news from Las Vegas, Nevada right now.

Multiple people have been wounded after a shooting on the strip near the Mandalay Bay Casino. We're also told that Police maybe moving towards the Bellagio. We have not confirmed yet, but definitely there have been people taken to local hospitals there.

We're also told that McCarran airport has stopped all flights in and out of the airport there in Las Vegas. And there you see right there the response from SWAT teams working this story.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, HOST, CNN: Now it is unclear if there's more than one shooter. We've heard on our affiliates the possibility of two shooters. There was even talk of multiple we have no confirmation of that at this point. Witnesses attending a music concert nearby say they heard multiple gunshots.

Now we are also learning as Natalie just mentioned the flights in and out of McCarran International Airport have been halted. Clearly to make sure if anyone linked to this shooting tries to get away. So there is no exit at this point trying but the police are trying to control the situation. It is chaotic at this hour. It is terrifying for so many people who have relayed their eyewitness reports to us.

ALLEN: Las Vegas police are now confirming that one shooter is down. They have sent out a tweet indicating that. We had unconfirmed reports in the past hour that a shooter may have been dead in a hotel room. But it is right there confirming that one suspect is down. This is active investigation.

Again, please do not head down to the strip at this time. And we have been seeing hundreds if not more people getting out of that area as this concert was in its final night. It's a three-day concert there outside Mandalay Bay.

CHURCH: And the frustration here of course, we have not heard any officials out discussing what is happening here. Clearly, because this is such an active situation. But so many people very concerned about what is happening with their loved ones who may be caught in the middle of this. This happening at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. These shots ringing out rapid fire in the midst of this this route 91 harvest festival.

And we know at this point multiple reports of injuries and casualties. We don't know the details. Again, there is so much that is not known at this hour and a lot of that is because we're relying on just some of these tweets coming from the police.

Earlier, we spoke with a witness Brian Hardner who is staying at a hotel across from Mandalay Bay and he told us what he was seeing and hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN HARDNER, EYEWITNESS: I didn't see much. Mostly I heard the shots. Just certainly shots. I thought it was a semi-braking the air brakes. Then I went downstairs and saw people running and looking for family. I immediately went back to my room and locked the door turned the lights off.

Directly out my window you can see the Mandalay Bay and I overlook the concert venue. So I pretty much stayed in my room with the doors locked in myself. I'm hearing that there's more shots going on at the Bellagio right now.

So this is all up down the strip all the hotels. So I'm not sure what all hotels are being affected but I think a lot of them are having -- have shooters at the moment.

CHURCH: You're talking you're feeling that there are multiple sites with active shooters? We heard possible reference to that earlier but no confirmation. What do you think is the situation with that?

HARDNER: Right now down the strip you can see all the cop cars. The police officers heading toward the Bellagio. They're all going from the Mandalay Bay right now literally passing Tropicana heading toward the Bellagio where they just had more reports of (Inaudible).

CHURCH: And what's your sense? With the shots that you witnessed where did you think those shots came from? Did you feel they came from high up another floor, many floors above you?

HARDNER: I mean in Vegas all the concrete and the echoes you couldn't really tell. It was -- it took me minutes to even realize they were shots. You just aren't used to hearing that.

ALLEN: Yes, and Brian, give us sense for people that don't know Las Vegas where is the Bellagio in reference in Mandalay Bay? Are they in close vicinity of each other?

[03:05:07] HARDNER: Walking distance. I would say within a half a mile. The blocks seem a lot larger here but I would say about a half a mile. It's been awhile since I walked it. I just arrived today. I just got to my room probably within 30 minutes of this happening.

ALLEN: My goodness. Are you in contact with anybody at the hotel? You chose to turn off the lights, lock the doors and stay in. Are you getting any kind of reaction from the hotel or do you get a sense that it's been evacuated for the most part?

HARDNER: No it's -- when I stepped out of the room I'm fairly on a lower floor. When I stepped out to see what's going on everybody was heading to their rooms just to stay safe. The actual casino lobby was chaos. And my windows actually look out onto the strip. So I can kind of see what's going on if I wanted to but I'm staying away from them. I closed the shutters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thoughts as we work our way through this problem. Once I have more information to come back we'll come back and give you that information at this time. But as of now what I can confirm is we do have one suspect down and we want people to steer clear of the area. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aare there any fatalities? Still looking for anybody else?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: All right. Just listening there to the police in Las Vegas as he was saying one suspect down. We understand two people are dead, 26 wounded. And of those 26, 12 are in critical condition and of those 26, two apparently, or two in addition died.

We're going to go back to the report of KTNV. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is still a very active scene. I asked real quickly as the sergeant left if there were still any outstanding suspects if anything was going on. They don't want to release any more information. Also they say they're very appreciative of the help of the public coming out here.

But for now they ask folks to stay away because as you can imagine they have their hands full dealing with what's in front of them. They don't want to worry about other folks coming in and potentially getting in the way without good intentions.

I think you could probably...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To watch this unfold especially in our city, hopefully we're prepared. It seems like they're doing a great job. Just God bless anyone that's been affected by this. There's going to be a lot of wounded. I'm a registered nurse, specialized in emergency medicine. And you know, I can really sympathize for this. It's going to be -- it's going to be a long couple days for the folks of this town.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, I'm hearing that there's every single resource out here when it comes to first responders. I mean, as a nurse what are you thinking at this point?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's -- this is what we do best. It's going to happen to everyone pulls together. It's a well-ironed machine here. Everyone is going to do a great job. We all need to pull together. That's what this city does and all the hospitals are going to come together. We're going to make sure everybody gets the best care. It's just going to be a long night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you're obviously very, very feeling better that your brother has expressed that he's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One hundred percent. It's the first thing I did. I thought I was able to get through to him. He's definitely shaken up. He's a tough kid together than I am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old is he?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is 23, 24? Twenty four years old.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. You certainly don't want to see people going through something like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not at such young age. There's a lot of young people. People of all ages is down here. So, a traumatic experience. It's something that no one is going to forget.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you describe anything else that he said as he's been in there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just said that it's just pure chaos. He said the police and law enforcement are doing a good job trying to keep everyone calm. Everyone is worried and trying to stay in contact with their families. They're doing a good job telling them to stay down stay safe.

They're making sure everything is very safe and secure before they're attempting to move anybody. It seems like you can hear some shouting and screaming in the background. People are definitely scared. But it seems like they're doing a hell of a job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Thanks so much, Cody (Ph). Again we're going to turn right around here and show you what's happening behind us. We are right by the Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership. Right out of Russell Road. South of Mandalay Bay here.

And you can see all the resources out here. You know, when we left that area we saw groups of police, SWAT teams moving in that direction. It looks like it's going to be a long night out here. I'll send it back to you in the studio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Indeed. All right. Christy, stand by. We're going to be checking in with you in just a bit. We want to...

CHURCH: All right. Listening there to KSNV. Before that to KLAS. These are all our affiliates bringing us these reports on the ground there in the aftermath of this Las Vegas strip shooting.

We heard from the Las Vegas metropolitan Police Department just a few minutes ago. One suspect dead, 24 wounded. Twelve of those people in critical condition. [03:10:00] ALLEN: No confirmation whether there is another shooter involved with this. Again, if you are just now joining us we haven't said this in a while but the witnesses were telling reporters there on the scene that the shooter was shooting from a high floor from a hotel out onto this open concert, three-day concert. A crowd of people there, thousands of people there.

CHURCH: Yes, this route 91 harvest festival is where this happened. We want to listen again to an eyewitness report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So a little bit that the -- all of the people customers, and you know, were running toward the back of the casino toward the garage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was going through your head at that point?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I said something is going on. Something big. And then you saw SWAT coming running through with shotguns and all kinds of stuff. And they told us bring the lids up. And they went around and locked up all the lids and said get out. Get out. Everybody go to the shark reef.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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 were going down and when we got down there was a man that was shot right there. Then we trying to take him out. He was all bloody and he was unconscious.

And one of my friends was helping him out and they him out and we ran and everybody is hiding everywhere. I mean, they're hiding under the bleachers and the stanchions and anywhere they could. And everyone is telling us to run. Run as fast as you can.

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: You're so strong. And Christine, we talked about before you came on camera about how you 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.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had a gal that was with this couple that the guy had been shot in the back or in the back side and I thought he was going to be OK but he's bleeding. And so, he wasn't serious so shove him into the ambulance that was right there. So I took him in the car. And she was like, can I drive because she works from 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. She got shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that is -- that is absolutely tragic. We appreciate your bravery.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just trying to get in the hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that is a struggle. So when you came here and you were trying to get to the people who you knew, what were you told and why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was I told here? An officer said that they're just taking precaution. So, you know, I mean, there are crazy people out there. They shot into a crowd of 30,000 people in the concert. It's insane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And as you reflect on this terrible event what sticks out right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to be with my family. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.

So many stories like that. As she said just 30,000 people at this -- at this event and helpless.

CHURCH: Terrifying eyewitness account there of that woman.

ALLEN: Yes.

CHURCH: That was on KLAS again, our affiliate. And you know, clearly she is in shock.

ALLEN: Absolutely. Thank goodness she is because look what she just witnessed. And to have the wherewithal to get people and put in her car. It is just incredible.

We've got a tweet from the mayor of Las Vegas from Carolyn Goodman saying, "Pray for Las Vegas. Thank you to all of our first responders out there now." And she told us the number 30,000 people at this concert.

CHURCH: At that concert.

ALLEN: And they were just concerts because someone at a high level was just firing shots. Earlier I think, Rosemary, didn't someone tell us it sounded like hundreds of shots.

CHURCH: Yes. And this rapid fire that was coming. And we heard from a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. One suspect is dead. We don't know how many suspects were involved. It was through there were perhaps two, possibly multiple suspects. We don't know at this point.

What we do know and have confirmation from the police department there that one suspect is dead. We also know that 24 people were wounded, two people have died as a result of their wounds, and 12 of the 24 wounded so far are in critical condition. [03:15:06] This of course in the aftermath of this terrifying Las

Vegas strip shooting.

ALLEN: And these are the early numbers because this is a story that we've been working just for over an hour now. And you got to think where did all those 30,000 people go? How are they in this venue assessing who is OK who could still be hiding that -- witness they are saying people were hiding under her car trying to get anywhere they could go.

You can just imagine what a horrific ordeal there for these people and for all the responders there you see trying to make sure everyone now is safe and getting the help they need.

CHURCH: It is terrifying. It's still an active situation here. There is no sense that this has been brought to any form of closure. And the worry for all of these people, as you say, Natalie, 30,000 people at that concert. Where have they gone? They're worried. People don't know exactly what's happening.

We're just going on the information we're getting just in the tweets. And we just heard from the Las Vegas metropolitan police there giving some updates on the numbers of people but we still don't know what the situation is. We know that the international airport there has been closed. No flights coming in, No flights going out.

ALLEN: Also we've heard the witnesses say that, you know, at first it sounded like, you know, firecrackers. If you are in a situation like this you probably can't comprehend. Wait a minute. This is someone shooting at us.

We've been going on the web site for the Harvest 91 three-day festival and looking at all the different performers there. No word on who was on the stage if there was more than one stage, but these are things that we will continue to look into as our team here at CNN tries to find more answers.

We'll take a break. Much more coverage on this breaking news story out of Las Vegas in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VINCE CELLINI, SPORTS BROADCASTER, CNN: I'm Vince Cellini with your CNN world sport headlines.

We begin with football. And the strangest of settings for Las Palmas and host Barcelona. There was a game stage behind closed doors in response to political violence and unrest in the city. The decision made as a result of Catalonia's disputed independence referendum which resulted in extreme pushback by the Spanish government to deny the vote.

Rather than take any risk at the games for incident as well as the forfeiting of points, the FC Barcelona board of directors decided the game would take place without an audience. As birthday weekends go that's Formula One star Max Verstappen

couldn't have written a better script. He turns 20 on Saturday, a day later went out and won the Malaysia Grand Prix.

[03:20:02] Impressive too when you consider it was Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes who had pole position ahead of this race.

The Presidents Cup wasn't about how but rather by how much for an American squad building a near insurmountable lead over the international team. The lead was 11 entering the singles on day four. Sunday meant 12 singles matches and pure pride for the internationals. It match four Daniel Berger won the match to clinch the Presidents Cup. Second fastest clinch ever as a team. The American 10-1 and won all-time in Presidents Cup play. A seventh straight victory.

And that's a look at your sports headlines. I'm Vince Cellini.

ALLEN: We continue to follow breaking news from Las Vegas, Nevada. The University Medical Center in Las Vegas has confirmed two people are dead after a mass shooting on the strip near the Mandalay Bay casino.

CHURCH: At least 24 others were wounded. Some in critical condition and witnesses attending a music concert nearby say they heard multiple bursts of rapid fire gunshots. We have this social media footage we want to show it to you. But just a warning it is unnerving, unnerving and disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gunshots?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get down. Get down. Gunfire

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get down. Get down! Gunfire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Watching that terrifying, terrifying.

(CROSSTALK)

ALLEN: My gosh, the sound, the sound of the shots. Three times. And you can tell the people are just in shock at first. The person performing still singing.

CHURCH: Didn't realize what was happening.

ALLEN: And you know, we still don't know, you know, what all was going on. Where they were going and how they were getting away. But that's the first that we've seen and heard these shots that were coming and you can hear just the rapid fire stops, starts again, stops, and starts again and slowly people start to scream.

CHURCH: Thirty thousand people gathered there.

ALLEN: Yes.

CHURCH: Totally vulnerable to whoever is like sniper fire is there with this rapid fire. So we are watching the. That social media video that was coming from Drew Akiyoshi (Ph) and you could see toward the end of it Drew obviously decided to move off. I mean, it takes a while in a situation like that for people to understand what is going on. And as we saw there the performer didn't really know what was happening.

ALLEN: Yes. You never know because it's surreal and you just don't expect something like this. Look at t ambulances there lined up. We've been hearing as we've covering this story for over an hour now, that they used every ambulance in the area to try and help people. Again, the number of those injured and hurt 26 people...

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: No, two people dead.

ALLEN: Two people dead.

CHURCH: Twenty four are wounded and 12 of those 24 are in critical condition.

(CROSSTALK)

ALLEN: All right, two in critical condition. OK.

CHURCH: Yes, but of course, you know, we don't know what the situation is going to be. Let's watch -- there's more social media video coming into us and we're sharing it with you. Again, we do need to warn you that this is very disturbing. All of this is very disturbing as we watch it and bring it to you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:05:04] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody, down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll be OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not leaving my...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you can't...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Yes, people staying down there as they heard more shots there. You hear them saying stay down, stay down as they slowly realize what is going on.

We're going to be talking with a reporter from the Las Vegas Sun. Do we have that reporter yet? OK. Mick is your name. OK, Mick. Let's go to you now. What do you know? What are you hearing about the situation? Mick Akers, thank you.

MICK AKERS, REPORTER, LAS VEGAS SUN: Yes, I'm here. They have it blocked off on the strip just past the Las Vegas sign here. Just talked to a lot of eyewitnesses. Apparently, there's a lot of pandemonium People -- one guy was on standing on the 32nd floor and unconfirmed that's where apparently when the shooting was at.

But he said he was woken up around 10.15. He heard shots and he smelled gunfire and all that. So he waited it out a few minutes. Called the front desk and then a couple of minutes later the metro police came up and escorted everyone out.

Just people were at the scene heard the ricochets and they were all hitting the floor. They said that this was just a crazy scene.

ALLEN: Yes, Mick, you said one of the shooters. Are you hearing anything from police about whether they think -- we know one shooter is dead, that there could be more.

AKERS: Yes, nothing is confirmed. Everyone is just reporting stuff off scanners. I didn't really want to talk about anything like that. Still waiting to be officially brief, still waiting that briefing. Still haven't spoken with the officials PIO yet.

CHURCH: So, Mick, are people being told what to do in the aftermath of this terrifying incident the shooting at this concert? What are people being told to do?

AKERS: As far as anyone, as I'm sure there were guy escorted out, so some of people are just walking down on the strip past the Las Vegas sign. A lot of people are kind of hanging out around here just seeing where a lot of cops have gathered so I guess they feel safe over here.

ALLEN: Earlier there was a report that police officers were heading to the Bellagio. Do you know anything about that?

AKERS: Yes, I haven't heard anything official on that. A lot of people are listening to the scanners. I didn't want to speculate anything that I heard of.

CHURCH: So, Mick, is there a since that this is their particular -- at the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino, is it restricted to that area? Is that -- is that what you understand?

AKERS: Yes, pretty much everything I heard there was multiple sites. Like I said nothing was confirmed but I heard multiple sites.

CHURCH: With multiple shooters?

AKERS: Yes, that's correct.

ALLEN: My goodness.

CHURCH: And so, now we've just heard from the police have updated everyone saying that one suspect is dead, they've confirmed that. Twenty four people wounded. Two people dead who had been taken to hospital. And we understand 12 of the 24 are in critical condition. Are you learning any more about those people who were wounded and just how bad their injuries are?

AKERS: No, nothing yet, I guess they're having a briefing here coming up pretty soon that I actually should get down to, so I'm going to have to cut this short and get to my vehicle here.

ALLEN: Totally understand. Mick Akers with the Las Vegas Sun. We appreciate you talking with us. We know you're very busy working this story.

AKERS: Yes, thank you. You guys have a good night.

CHURCH: All right. Thank you much, Mick. And just going over what we know so far. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police have updated people. There hasn't been a lot of official word but we do know one suspect is dead. Two people have been killed in the midst of this shooting in Las Vegas on the strip there.

Twenty four people are wounded. They are in hospital. Twelve of them are in critical condition. We have shown you the very disturbing social media that just shows this rapid fire.

Now we've got Jean Casarez standing by. Jean, tell us what you're learning about this situation because we're not really getting a lot of guidance from officials except for updated on these numbers of casualties.

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, let me tell you what we are seeing and what we're hearing. We are about one mile away from where all of this is happening. And it's right behind me right here. And we are seeing ambulances continuing to go into the scene.

[03:30:03] We're seeing ambulance come out of the scene. We are seeing police cars at a high rate of speed going into the scene right there. So, obviously, this is a very active situation that is going on.

We're also hearing just as you had that the University Medical Center I was just told by the public information officer on scene is the level one trauma center here in Las Vegas. And that is where victims are being taken. There is a level two trauma center in Las Vegas sunset where victims are also being taken.

Right now I'm hearing more sirens in the distance. As you have said one suspect is down. There are two deceased confirmed at this point. There are 26 wounded and 12 critical, but I can tell you that from what we are hearing and what you are haring, mass hysteria.

Route 91, a country concert taking place outside. And we've heard what appeared to be just shot after shot rapid-fire. Mass hysteria. People down, people being told to take cover, to run for their lives. And so right now I think the emotions are still very high as they are continuing to really get the facts here of exactly what is happening, what has happened, and if there are any more shooters that need to be contained at this point.

ALLEN: Earlier, Jean, we heard from a woman who was in shock about what she witnessed, describing people that she was pulling into her car, who had been shot, trying to get them to the hospital. As you say, so many police officers responding from so many jurisdictions. Ambulances everywhere. And we really don't know if all the people that may have been injured, hurt, or worse have been all accounted for. Because there were what, is it about 30,000 people at that concert?

CASAREZ: Huge. And there were so many people. You know, just as you were speaking right now, another ambulance just came down the Las Vegas strip from the scene, had its lights on as soon as it went through the intersection, its sirens went on.

But obviously that ambulance, and here we have another emergency vehicle that is coming. I think you're looking at it right now. The lights are on. Siren is not on. And this would be a police highway patrol, California highway patrol vehicle coming out of the scene right now.

Many emergency vehicles on the scene. But I think it's significant that an ambulance coming out of the scene right now with its lights on. Obviously, appearing to transport someone at this point.

CHURCH: And Jean, as this unfolds, it is a chaotic situation. People don't have a lot of information. And of course what happens then is there is a lot of chatter. People are listening to scanners. They're getting various reports. We're hearing of the possibility of multiple sites with active shooters. What information are you getting on that?

CASAREZ: And I want to interrupt you because you're looking at live pictures. This is another ambulance coming out of the scene right now. I'm looking in that ambulance. I see them working on someone as they pass by. I was able to see that those emergency technicians were crouched down. They appeared to be huddling together, working on someone.

So there are still apparently it appears to be victims at the scene that are continuing to be transported at this point from the Las Vegas strip to one of the trauma centers here in Las Vegas.

ALLEN: That's unreal. Jean Casarez. Jean, thank you so much for being there. We'll stay in close contact with you since obviously this is a very, very active, ongoing situation there in Las Vegas. We're going the take a quick break. Much more for you right after this.

[03:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: We want to welcome back our viewers here in the United States, and of course all around the world. Rosemary Church and I'm Natalie Allen here. We've been covering this for over an hour now.

And we just want to relay to you here the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has tweeted this. "At this time we do not belief there are any more shooters. More information to come shortly. They will actually hold a presser.

So we know there has been confirmation of one suspect dead. We hope that that means this is the end of it.

ALLEN: That would be such very good news. Because as you can see, they're still working the scene. They're still looking for victims. They're still taking them to hospital as the story has been unfolding.

If you're just joining, just a reminder, a shooter somewhere at an upper-level perhaps at the Mandalay hotel, which was overlooking a very popular concert called Harvest 91. Thirty thousand people there at the end of this three-day concert. And slowly realizing.

And we'll show the disturbing social media video in just a moment. You'll hear the audio of just horrendous as people slowly realize what was unfolding. Let's go back to -- all right. So let's go to that social media right now. And, again, we warn you, the audio is extremely disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gunshots. That's gunshots!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My god! Everybody get down, get down. Stay down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get down, get down. Get down!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: And then it happens one more time. You hear a pause, and then so many more rounds occur again. As people slowly realizing that they are targets of a shooter.

CHURCH: That's right. Because at moments like that, you think it might be fireworks, as part of the performance. And we saw the performer there. Was not sure what was happening. And a lot of people, when they realized suddenly, you hear that moment where they realize this...

ALLEN: Yes.

CHURCH: This is a very dangerous situation.

ALLEN: The University Medical Center in Las Vegas has confirmed two people are dead. Twenty four wounded, 12 in critical condition. But since we've gotten those numbers, our reporter Jean Casarez who is live there in Las Vegas has seen more ambulances come by and more victims in the ambulances being rushed to hospital.

[03:40:02] She is here with two more people who witnessed this. Hello, Jean. Jean, go ahead.

CASAREZ: We do have some two -- some witnesses that were part of the crowd of that country music festival, Monique and Rachel. They're sisters. They're here with her husbands from Canada. But they were eyewitness to what was happening in that country music concert. First of all, Rachel, you're listening to the music, and all of the sudden you begin to hear what?

RACHEL DEKERF, EYEWITNESS: We actually heard -- it sound like a glass breaking. So you looked around to see what was going on. And seconds later you hear a pop, pop, pop. And you think it's fireworks and someone starting off a firecracker. And then at the same second you realized no, that's not. It's gunfire, and then it goes again.

CASAREZ: So, Monique, where was it coming from? Because the Mandalay Bay is on one side of the strip, and you're saying that the concert was on the other side of the strip. Next to the Tropicana, basically. So where were the shots coming from with your vantage point?

DEKERF: We were on the left-hand of the stage. We were really close. And I would say the first person that we knew that was injured was on the right of the stage, right in front of the stage. And it sounded like the gunshots were coming over from the right side where the Mandalay is.

CASAREZ: So coming across the street to where you were?

DEKERF: They sound like they were right beside us too. It sounded like it was somebody in the crowd or, I mean, I don't know how far gunshots, the noise travels. But it was like in -- it was right there. Like it was...

CASAREZ: So Monique, what did people start to do when this started to happen?

MONIQUE DUMAS, EYEWITNESS: So, instantly everyone just crouched and went to the ground and then it stopped. So you kind of just stood up again because it's so much seeming like, it's real. And then the band was rushed off the stage. The flood lights come on to the crowd. And then you see on the right-hand of the stage the person who is been injured. So they're calling for a medic, they're calling for security, and then there is gunfire again, and now we're running.

(CROSSTALK)

DEKERF: No, and we stayed crouched.

DUMAS: We stayed crouched.

DEKERF: We stayed crouched for quite a while. It seem like there was like a pause in the gunfire. And then it looked like, I don't know, in my eyes, it's like the people in the yellow shirts were telling everybody to go, like, go, go, go. And we all just went to the left. Like where there is like a huge parking lot -- well, not right away. Because we had to get through all the fencing and all these craziness.

But the whole time we were running, the gunfire never ended it seemed like. It went on and on and on. And you're like what the hell? Where are the cops? How is this happening right now.

CASAREZ: But it appears as though there was a pause in the gunfire and then it started again?

(CROSSTALK)

DUMAS: There always was a pause so I don't want to seem but I thought he was doing like maybe reloading a gun or whatever he was doing. So you think for a moment, OK, we're fine there is no more gunfire you. And so you stop for a second. And then it starts again. And so you just keep running and running.

(CROSSTALK)

DEKERF: You're crouching.

CASAREZ: Crouching and running.

DEKERF: You get down. You're running through gunfire. And you're like by the time we got into that -- so like where the Tropicana, sorry, the Tropicana and then the festival is, there is a huge, like, parking lot. And there was a like a refinery back there.

And we were just running and ducking in between vehicles, under, behind with gunshot. We just ran and ran. Like we just kept going. And we just headed south. And we ended up at McDonald's. And then we crossed. And we thought -- we wanted to get back to our hotel. So we thought we would get through the Mandalay and go through there.

But then we got to the Mandalay, and a security officer or girl told us to leave because a shooter was in there. They had him in a room up there. But for whatever reason we didn't really listen to her.

CASAREZ: Did you see people getting shot?

DUMAS: I didn't see anyone getting shot. But I saw someone who had been injured. So after she had been shot -- or he had been shot. But I didn't see it actually happen. It just was the after effect of them calling for medics and calling for security, and like we need help over here.

CASAREZ: How did you find out that it was shots you were hearing? Did anybody...

(CROSSTALK)

DUMAS: Not right away.

DEKERF: We didn't find out until -- we went to the Mandalay. We left the Mandalay. We crossed the street back over to McDonald's. We were in McDonald's. Then the security guy came rushing through there, and everybody left McDonald's. And then we went like down to the Harley- Davidson. And we saw cops. And they said where is it safe for us to go. He said just keep walking like south.

So we walked to the Harley place. And we're told to stay there because there was a bus coming. So we hid behind the big Harley-Davidson like concrete. We all took a letter and just behind it. And then we were there and we're told to leave there and just keep going and we ended up here.

CASAREZ: All right. Well, we want to thank you for joining us. We're glad you're safe. And I know you've been through an experience that is still ongoing right now. So, I'm going the hand it back to you. But this is some eyewitness accounts. Two of our visitors from Canada of what they endured tonight at that country music concert.

[03:45:02] CHURCH: Jean Casarez, thank you so much. We'll be back to you in just a moment. But we have some more social media video that we want to share with our viewers. And again, a warning. All of this very disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down. Get down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Babe, you're OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody (muted).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't -- you can't go yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I swear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't go yet. We can't go yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: You can tell, they're just crouching there. They don't know where it's coming from. They can't get out. They're just told to lay low there. And just to hear the rapidity of that fire. And it came three times. Pausing, and then again. Pausing and then again.

CHURCH: And as we heard from the eyewitness reports, the ladies who were talking with Jean, they felt like it would never end. And there is that. You can see people there crouching, not knowing where it's coming from and when it's going to end.

Let's go back to Jean Casarez again there in Las Vegas. So Jean, you have another eyewitness report. What's being said?

CASAREZ: Yes. This is Joe. He was also at the country music concert. So Jason Aldean was in the midst of performing. What did you initially hear? And what was the reaction to that huge crowd?

JOE PITZEL, WITNESS: Well, we were watching the concert from the east side of the stage. And we heard a succession of pops. And I mean, unbelievably, it sounded like fireworks. But as they kept rattling off, then we realized something was up. And most of the crowd started to duck down a bit.

And Jason Aldean actually turned around and ran off the stage. And that's when we realized that you know, we were in -- you know, something bad was going on. So actually everybody in the crowd actually got down, which was unbelievable, just to watch that. And everybody was staying safe and low.

And the succession of fire arms going off, just kept going over and over in like groups of ten. I'd say at least we heard 50 or 60 minimum when we were all down. And then people started stampeding -- were going to start stampeding to go towards the main exit -- or the main entrance, which was this way. And we all stayed low. And we went out the east. And we went that way. And people were climbing the fences, pushing their way through. The barricades were coming down. People were screaming, crying. Everybody was just trying to get out.

CASAREZ: How did everyone go down? Was it just sort of like a domino effect or did somebody say hit the ground?

PITZEL: Absolutely domino effect. And then some of the people that were keeping level headed were saying get down, get down. And everybody seemed to be responding quite well to that. No panic ensued to start. Everybody was just down. And then everybody started stampeding towards the main gate.

And like I say, we went east. Because you could hear the gunshots coming off -- that would be west from the Mandalay Bay. You could definitely see that's where it was from. And it did look like -- I mean, I don't know for sure. It did look like somebody was down in the crowd on the west side. I can't confirm that. But, you know, it's like they were screaming for medics to come and panicking. So yes, that's what we saw that way. That's why we decided to go east.

CASAREZ: Did you hear the gunshots pause and then start up again?

PITZEL: Yes. Like, they were loading clips, absolutely. And the weirdest turn of events is we went east. Went down a block or two. And came back up, and we went back to the Mandalay Bay where the gunman was, apparently. And then we were inside.

And the casino was like a -- it was ghost town there is nobody in there. And one of the security ladies came up and told us to leave. And we still kind of didn't want to go with the way she was saying to go. So we walked away from her and kept going through the casino and then we ran into another fellow, and he said hey, get going. The gunman is in the building.

So just a weird turn of events that we actually walked back there. And then we came this way. So, yes, unbelievable.

CASAREZ: Mass hysteria? Is that what you would call the reaction as it kept going?

PITZEL: It would be. Luckily, the way we went, there was less traffic going to the east. But everybody was panicking, of course, girls screaming. People fainting on the ground. Running, you know, I've never been around something like that. So, Yes.

CASAREZ: I know it's hard to judge time. But how long would you say the gunshots continued to go off?

PITZEL: Minutes. I bet it was minutes, easy. Honestly, I bet I heard 100 to 130 shots. And that's not counting. Just in successions of 10 like a clip. That's, yes.

[03:50:07] CASAREZ: All right, Joe. Thank you for joining us. You went through something that I'm sure you will not soon forget. And the scene is continuing as we've been talking. We have seen and heard more ambulances going by. We're right on the Las Vegas strip. We're about a mile away from where it all began, where it all happened.

Mandalay Bay Hotel across the route 91 country music concert with Jason Aldean, that was in progress, talking to eyewitnesses that were in the midst of the thousands of people at that concert tonight. And we're continuing to see exactly what the totals are at this point. Back to you.

ALLEN: And Jason Aldean was able to get off the stage, is that correct, Jean, as far as you're hearing?

CASAREZ: It appears -- I don't think with these eyewitnesses they can confirm. He was told to get off the stage, but he apparently immediately left. So probably someone said to get off, yes.

CHURCH: All right. Jean Casarez, thank you so much for your eyewitness reports, bringing them to our viewers near the United States, and all across the world.

And this is the thing. Jean, we are waiting for a police briefing at this point. And we see a tweet here, the latest tweet says at this time, "We do not believe there are any more shooters. More information to come shortly at that police briefing."

We know that's it been confirmed one suspect is dead. We don't like to make any assumptions. But it's possible maybe from that tweet to assume that this is the end of the actual shooting. But not the end of trying to go in and recover and rescue people.

ALLEN: We just heard her interviewing three people. It's amazing what they've been through. They can stand there and recount what they witnessed calmly. Earlier, a witness described the moment when police arrived on the scene as well as the terrifying moments when they were trying to help those injured. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of the people, customers were running toward the back of the casino, toward the garage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was going through your head at this point?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I said something is going on. Something big. And then you saw SWAT coming running through with shotguns and all kinds of stuff. And they told us bring the lids up. And they went around and locked up all the lids and said get out. Get out. Everybody go to the shark reef.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like everyone said "hit the floor." so everyone was literally laying on top of each other, trying to get out of the way. The shots just kept coming. And so we were 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 is hiding everywhere. I mean, they're hiding under the bleachers and the stanchions and anywhere they could. And everyone is telling us to run, run as fast as you.

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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, you're 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.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had a gal that was with this couple that the guy had been shot in the back, or in the back side. And I thought he was going to be okay, 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 to 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: That woman helping people. And she was going through it as well. You know, we have an epidemic in this country of mass shootings. But I don't -- can't recall we've had tens of thousands of people perhaps at a concert that were just lying there, lying there vulnerable to this shooter.

[03:54:54] CHURCH: Absolutely. And of course, we've been talking about this video. I want to bring to it you again. This first social media video that we showed our viewers. And again, a warning, it is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gunshots. That's gunshots!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My god! Everybody, get down, get down. Stay down.

Get down. Get down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: This is the thing that's just -- it's a nightmare scenario for anyone to think in terms of 30,000 people crouching as this rapid- fire keeps on going. And a number of eyewitness reports saying it felt like it was never going to end. And we've seen the shock of so many people. And understandably right at the scene there.

ALLEN: Again, the numbers that we have, and that has been a while. So these numbers could very much rise. But 24 taken to the hospital wounded. Two confirmed dead. Twelve people in critical condition.

But since the numbers were given out, our Jean Casarez there has seen ambulances rushing by. Clearly people were inside being administered to. So, the good news is that the one shooter we're told is down. And now they're just continuing to help those who have been hurt.

CHURCH: Early Start is next. I'm Rosemary Church.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. Our breaking news continues in just a moment.

[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)