A registered nurse from Tennessee has been identified as the first of 58 victims killed in a mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas Sunday night.
Sonny Melton, 29, was with his wife Heather, watching Jason Aldean perform at the Route 91 Harvest, just after 10pm when gunfire ran out.
Heather says that her selfless husband saved her life.
”He saved my life. He grabbed me and started running when I felt him get shot in the back,’ she told WSMV.
‘I want everyone to know what a kind-hearted, loving man he was, but at this point, I can barely breathe.’
The couple lived in Big Sandy, Tennessee, where Melton worked as a registered nurse in an emergency room and ICU at Henry County Medical Center.
Melton was among 58 people who were killed at the festival, and authorities say that number is expected to grow.
Heather Melton, left, says her husband Sonny, right, saved her life as gunfire rang out at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday. He was shot in the back and died, while Heather survived. The two are pictured above showing off their festival passes
An additional 515 people were injured, when 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock of nearby Mesquite, Nevada started firing down on the music festival from a hotel room across the street at the Mandalay Bay Casino.
PICTURED: Stephen Craig Paddock, right, is the man who killed more than 58 and injured 515 in a shooting at a Las Vegas music festival Sunday night. He’s pictured above with Marilou Danley, who he lives with
About 22,000 people were attending the third day of the country music festival, which featured top acts like Eric Church and Sam Hunt.
Paddock shot himself before police could breach his room, on the 32nd floor of the hotel. They found him inside among an ‘arsenal’ of 10 firearms.
Investigators are now raiding Paddock’s home in a retirement community in Mesquite, which he shared with a woman named Marilou Danley. Danley was initially called a person of interest in the shooting, but police no longer believe she was involved after contacting her early Monday morning and finding her out of the country. Police say it appears Paddock used her ID when he checked into his hotel on September 28.
NBC News reports that Paddock was going through a divorce at the time. Paddock’s brother Eric described Marilou asa ‘nice lady’ who was his brother’s girlfriend.
Investigations are still ongoing and police have not yet determined a motive. He was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Lombardo said.
However, ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the gunman was a recent convert to Islam. But several U.S. officials say there is no evidence to confirm that.
President Donald Trump paid his respects on Monday morning after the shooting, writing on Twitter: ‘My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!’
He spoke about the shooting in a somber morning press conference, calling the deadly incident a ‘senseless murder’ and ‘an act of pure evil’.
‘We pray for the day that evil is banished and the innocent are safe from hatred and fear,’ Trump said. ‘May God bless the souls of the lives that our lost, may God give us the grace of healing and may God provide the healing family with the strength to carry on.’
Trump plans to fly to Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with first responders, the injured and the families of the victims.
Hundreds of rounds of automatic gunfire were reported by witnesses on the scene; one woman in the Mandalay Bay said that there was a shooter on the 32nd floor, and that they had killed a security guard
A man lays on top of a woman as others flee the music festival grounds. She appears to be alive and moving
A Monday morning photo shows two windows blown out on the 32nd floor. Police believe Paddock was firing out of both
Authorities say Paddock had a large room or connecting rooms on the 32nd floor
Three people lie on the ground, one covered in blood, after the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Sunday
Fifty-eigh people are dead and 515 injured after the Sunday shooting at the Las Vegas music festival
A police officer takes cover behind a police vehicle during the shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino (left); people take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival (right)
A body lies under a sheet on The Strip in Las Vegas as police secure the area after 58 people were killed on Sunday
Police on guard on the streets outside the Mandalay Bay. The shooter was killed inside the hotel
Police detained Marilou Danley, described as Paddock’s ‘companion’ and his roommate, in the early hours of Monday morning. They say they don’t believe she was involved in the shooting
President Trump has sent his ‘warmest condolences and sympathies’ to the victims of the worst mass shooting in American history
President Trump spoke about the shooting at a morning press conference, calling it a ‘senseless murder’ and ‘an act of pure evil’
Paddock is retired and often visits Las Vegas to gamble, his brother told NBC News. Eric says police identified his brother through a wallet that was found on his body.
In an interview with DailyMail.com, Eric said that something must have happened to his brother to make him snap.
‘He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something,’ Eric said from his home in Orlando, Florida.
‘We know absolutely nothing, this is just, we are dumbfounded.’
Eric said his brother wasn’t religious, political or had any mental illness that he knows of. The last time he spoke with him was after Hurricane Maria, when Paddock called to check in on their 90-year-old mother.
‘Our condolences to everyone,’ Eric said. ‘We just don’t understand. It’s like an asteroid just fell out of the sky and we have no reason, rhyme, rationale, excuse – there’s just nothing.’
Records show that Paddock sued The Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas in September 2012, after he ‘slipped and fell on an obstruction on the floor’ and suffered injuries. The lawsuit was dropped in October 2014.
Police in his hometown of Mesquite say that they had no history with Paddock. It’s unclear how long he had been living there.
In a Monday morning press conference, Sheriff Lombardo said Paddock was cited several years ago but said it was a ‘normal practice in the court system’. Lombardo did not give further details on that citation.
Paddock’s brother Eric said he wasn’t religious, political or had any mental illness that he knew of
Stephen Paddock, right, seen with his brother Eric in this undated image provided to the Today show
Heavily armed police are searching Paddock’s home in a a retirement community.
Mesquite Police Chief Troy Tanner says police surrounded and entered the single-family where Paddock lived with 62-year-old Danley early Monday morning.
He says Danley was not at the house and police saw ‘no movement’ inside before serving a search warrant at the one-story, three-bedroom home in the Sun City Mesquite retirement community, about 80 miles north of Las Vegas.
Tanner says detectives from Las Vegas and North Las Vegas were at the scene in the resort community of Mesquite, located near the Arizona state line.
Police continue to search for two vehicles connected to Lombardo – a Hyundai Tucson with a Nevada license plate 114B40 and a Chrysler Pacifica Touring with a Nevada license plate 79D401.
Paddock previously owned a home in Isle de Viera, Florida. A couple who lived next door to him, Don and Sharon Judy, say he only visited a handful of times in the two years he owned it.
‘He seemed normal, other than that he lived by gambling. He was very open about that,’ Sharon Judy told Florida Today. ‘First time we ever met him, he handed us the key to the house and said, ‘Hey, would keep an eye on the house, we’re only going to be here every now and then.”
On the times that they visited the home, they say it was sparsely furnished, with only a few chairs, a bed in each bedroom and a few laptops. Paddock reportedly told them that he and his girlfriend would stay up all night gambling. They say they never saw weapons inside the home.
A general view of the property believed to be the residence of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock situated in Mesquite, NV
Local Police seal off the road leading to Vegas shooter Stephen Paddocks home in Mesquite, NV as they facilitate the arrival of further assets involved in the execution of a search warrant on the property
Las Vegas police sweep through a convention center area during a lockdown Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, at the Tropicana Las Vegas following an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip
Paddock’s brother described Marilou (left and right) as his a girlfriend. Paddock was in the middle of a divorce at the time of the shooting
A wounded person is walked in on a wheelbarrow as Las Vegas police respond to the active shooter situation
Festival-goers, crouch in cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire rained down on crowds
Stephen Paddock, 64, carried out the massacre after opening fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday night
People assist a wounded woman at the Tropicana hotel, which is located close to where the Route 91 festival was being held
First responders and bystanders carry an injured person to an emergency station located at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave – one block north of the shooting
Pictures of the Mandalay Bay hotel Monday morning show two windows blown out on the 32nd flood. Authorities say Paddock may have booked a large room or connecting rooms, and was firing out of both windows. Police were able to pinpoint Paddock’s location because he set off the smoke alarm with the gunfire.
Terrifying footage from the scene shows concert-goers reacting with confusion and then panic as the festival turned into a bloodbath around them.
Video from close to the stage shows people hitting the floor as others crawl to safety or run for their lives. Audio from further back in the crowd captured several bursts of sustained automatic gunfire.
Witnesses said ‘hundreds’ of rounds of ammunition were emptied into the crowd, with Paddock stopping several times to reload as he carried out his massacre.
Among those shot dead at the concert was an off-duty Las Vegas Metro Police officer. Attendees said a large number of law enforcement and military personnel had been attending the show.
Two on-duty Las Vegas police officers who engaged the shooter have been hospitalized. One of the officers was critically injured, but is now in stable condition after undergoing surgery. The other officer suffered minor injuries. Neither have been identified. Two officers with the Las Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies were also injured in the shooting. One is in critical condition and the other is in stable condition. Their names have not been released either.
People dive for cover at Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada
Officers are seen outside the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the shooter was holed up in a room on the 32nd floor
Above, a view of a typical double room in the Mandalay Bay hotel. It’s unclear what kind of room Paddock was staying in
Paddocks’ former home in Florida is pictured above
All of the ambulances in the area were been deployed to the location, and victims taken to two hospitals.
University Medical Center says they took in 104 of the injured patients, and that four have sine died. Twelve are in critical condition and eight had to be sent immediately into the operating room.
Las Vegas authorities are calling for blood donations and setting up a hotline to report missing people in the wake of a mass shooting.
Las Vegas police said Monday that it will take time to identify all of the injured and dead in what was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
The number to report missing people is (866) 535-5654. Police have also opened a ‘family reunification center’ for people to find loved ones at 400 S. Martin L. King Blvd., in Building B.
Las Vegas police say anyone who wants to help can give blood at one of two locations in Las Vegas and nearby Henderson. A blood drive is also being planned.
This was the scene at the music festival before the assassin opened fire on the crowds of as many as 30,000 people
Jason Aldean was on stage (pictured) at the festival when the gunfire rang out. He continued playing for 10 seconds as shots were fired; he was then rushed off the stage. He and his team are confirmed to be safe
This photograph shows a bullet hole left in the wall of a metal building in which fleeing bystanders had hidden
One witness at the concert told DailyMail.com that a woman had entered the crowd with a male companion and screamed ‘They’re all around… You’re all going to f***ing die today’ just 45 minutes before the gunfire broke out.
The woman was described as being Hispanic and in her 50s; she and the man were escorted out of the venue by security.
Witness Breanna Hendricks, who was in Vegas celebrating her 21st birthday, said: ‘There was a lady who came running up behind us in the concert and she started to play with people’s hair acting crazy and she told us that we’re all going to f***ing die.
‘She said they’re all around us and we were going to die,’ continued Hendricks, whose mom Shawn Hendricks also witnessed the startling altercation.
‘She was Hispanic, probably about 5ft 5, brown hair. It felt like she had knowledge of what was about to happen, her and her boyfriend who was also Hispanic.
‘The woman was saying her boyfriend couldn’t breathe so they could get through the crowd.
‘It seemed she was telling us to either warn us or she was part of it and she was telling us because she knew we were going to die, it was so scary.’
It’s not clear whether what she witnessed is related to the shooting or not.
Witness Breanna Hendricks, who is in Vegas celebrating her 21st birthday, told DailyMail.com that a woman had told the crowd ‘You’re all going to f***ing die today’ 45 minutes before the shooting. It’s not known if the two are connected
This was the moment that crowds began to flee the scene as gunfire rang out at the 30,000-strong music festival is attacked. At first crowds didn’t seem to know what was happening
People scramble over barriers to get to safety as the gunfire rages on at the Las Vegas event
What appears to be a body under a sheet lies in front of swarms of police and rescue personnel at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave
A wounded woman is moved outside the Tropicana during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas on Sunday
Professional poker player Dan Bilzerian, who was at the event, streamed footage of himself running. ‘Holy f**k this girl just got shot in the f**king head,’ he said, ‘This is so f**king crazy.’
Video footage of the shooting shows performer Jason Aldean on stage as the automatic gunfire rings out.
Aldean continues performing for ten seconds as the gunfire rings out constantly, only stopping after screams begin to rise from the crowds.
People in the crowds argue over whether they just heard gunshots as the lights on the stage dim and Aldean and his band leave.
He later posted a message on Instagram that read: ‘Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still dont 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. #heartbroken #stopthehate’
Aldean was the closing act of the festival. Taking to Twitter, many other stars sent out their thoughts and prayers to those affected.
Jake Owen, who played the main stage before Aldean, tweeted: ‘Praying for everyone here in Vegas. I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. We are okay. Others aren’t. Please pray.’
In an interview with CNN, Owen described seeing people ‘scrambling for any kind of cover’. Owen took cover in his tour bus but says he saw plenty of concertgoers with the ‘chaos and fear’ in their eyes.
‘We need to stand up and fight these cowards,’ he said. ‘This is not what America was built to be… It’s up to us as entertainers to continue to come out here and sing our songs… and not back down to this,’ Owen said. ‘We can win this.’
Lauren Alaina, tweeted: ‘Praying for everyone at Route 91. That crowd was one of the best I’ve played for all year. This news is devastating. My camp is home & safe.’
The Brothers Osborne urged revelers to find cover immediately, tweeting: ‘Just hearing about active shooting at Route 91 Festival in Vegas. Take cover and get safe immediately! Prayers to everyone there.’
Singer Lee Brice, who performed on the opening night on Friday, posted: ‘Hearts out to Vegas. Route 91 concert, stage I played two nights ago. Musicians, fans, workers, you are all in our prayers right now.’
Michael Ray said: ‘My heart is breaking we were just there Friday! My prayers are with everyone.’
People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after the gunman opened fire
Initially people peacefully crouched at the command of police (left). But as the countless rounds rang out, people began to panic and flee
Police officers with shotguns and machine guns advise people to take cover near the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort
Witnesses said that the crowd initially got calmly down on the ground, but as more people fell to the gunfire, mass panic took hold and people began to stampede from the scene.
Speaking on a bus laid on to transport concert goers away from the scene, Lisa Price, 43, and Nancy Stover, 38, of Los Angeles said: ‘People were lying on the ground – I was like get up, you’re going to get trodden on.
‘We just heard like pop, pop, pop, pop and started walking – it was happening over and over again.
‘It was at least 20 shots. Enough for us to start walking, then running and panicking. Luckily, we seemed to be further away – we were at the front of the concert near the stage.
‘It seemed to be coming from the back. We were running to try to help people and they were coming from that direction.’
A man in a wheelchair, apparently in distress, is taken away from the festival in the wake of the shooting
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard. Witnesses said they initially ducked down at the command of police, but panic then took hold and there was a stampede
People flee from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, amid reports of gunfire there and at a nearby hotel
People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground after the shooting. One person can be seen with a shirt draped over their face; it’s not clear if they are dead
Other sobbing concertgoers told DailyMail.com that the gunfire was so intense, it sounded like July 4th.
Derek and Karen Bernard, from Los Angeles, California, were in town for the Route 91 country festival and were close to the stage when the shooting began.
‘We were inside,’ said sales manager Derek, 53. ‘All of a sudden, we saw the band disappearing – they were like running off the stage.
‘We were off to the left side of the stage, we were running off there and there were staff security there.
‘There was a woman bleeding – that’s when we realized it was real shots. She just fell. She was shot. There was a lot of blood.
‘It was so many – it sounded like 4th of July – just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. So many. I didn’t think it was real because I couldn’t see or feel anything. I was so panicked.’
Professional poker player Dan Bilzerian, who was at the event, streamed footage of himself running. Noises that could be helicopters or gunfire could be heard in the background.
‘Holy f**k this girl just got shot in the f**king head,’ he said, ‘This is so f**king crazy.’
Police officers and medical personnel stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers point their weapons at a car driving down closed Tropicana Ave. near Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada
Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue – one block north of the music festival – after the mass shooting
Audio from the SWAT team that breached Paddock’s hotel room recorded officers warning people to get back in the hallway on the 32nd floor just moments before they blew off his door.
‘We have sight on the suspect’s door. I need everyone in the hallway to be aware of it and get back,’ a SWAT member told the dispatcher. ‘We need to pop this and see if we get any further response from this guy to see if he’s in here or actually moved somewhere else.’
The dispatcher could then be heard relaying the information to other nearby officers: ‘All units on the 32nd floor, SWAT has explosive breach, everyone in the hallway needs to move back, all units move back.’
Seconds later, an officer could be heard saying: ‘Breach, breach, breach’ as the SWAT team blew off the door to his room.
Paddock was found dead among an ‘arsenal’ of weapons and ammunition, including at least 10 guns, when they stormed in.
Police officers enter the Mandalay Bay resort and casino during a mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas
FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino on October 2, 2017, after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino on October 2, 2017, after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Hotel guests staying at the Mandalay Bay said they were woken by SWAT teams bursting into their rooms.
Brad Baker, 38, of Austin, Texas, was in Las Vegas for a conference. ‘I think it [the shooter] was on my floor,’ he said. ‘When they [the police] came into my room, I was totally out – I thought I was in trouble!
‘They yelled at me like, ‘Get some clothes on.’ I got my shirt on but I left my phone, my wallet. When I came out of my room, they were telling us to run. I saw all the cops with guns. It was crazy.
‘I saw them run up the stairs – there were maybe like six people [police] on our floor. I was on the 32nd floor – they’re saying the guy was like four rooms down from me.’
Another witness said he was in the room next to the gunman when he opened fire.
‘I was in room 135 and I heard over the police scanner that the shooting came from room 137,’ said the man, who asked not to be named.
A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip
People wait in a medical staging area on October 2, 2017, after a mass shooting during a music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Police officers stand along the Las Vegas Strip the Mandalay Bay resort and casino during a shooting near the casino, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas
‘It was non-stop, I would say well over 100 rounds. We hit the floor and took cover. I called the front desk and she was remarkably calm and said she was aware of the situation and told us to stay in our room.
‘After around 10-15 minutes it just kind of stopped. You could smell the gun powder. Right before we got out I heard an explosion, maybe a flashbang, but windows were blown out.
‘The cops came on to the floor and they were clearing rooms room by room and six or seven cops came into our room and we were evacuated.’
Dozens were seen on aerial footage fleeing the Mandalay Bay, which was locked down, as police surrounded the location.
Unconfirmed reports were made of a suspicious vehicle outside the Luxor, and shots fired at other Vegas locations: Aria, NYNY and Tropicana.
The LVMPD tweeted: ‘Please avoid heading to the south end of the Strip. Las Vegas Blvd is shut down at Tropicana, southbound past Russell Rd at this time.’
Flights out of the city’s McCarran International Airport have started up again after initially being shut down during the shooting.
A concert-goer said he heard what sounded like fireworks while he was watching Aldean’s performance.
Kodiak Yazzi, 36, said the music stopped temporarily and started up again before another round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage.
As the 40,000 fans in the crowd began to flee, Yazzi took cover and said he saw flashes of light coming from the Mandalay Bay hotel tower high above.
The bursts of pops would start and stop for more than five minutes, he said, and dozens of ambulances arrived as he ran for safety. He later got a Lyft driver to take him home to suburban Henderson.
A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer stands in the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave. after a mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada
A police officer runs along the sidewalk towards the scenes of violence. Las Vegas Metropolitan PD officers were joined by other police from the surrounding counties
Police run to cover at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay shooting
The U.S. Homeland Security Department says there is no ‘specific credible threat’ involving other public venues in the U.S. after the Las Vegas shooting that killed at least 50 people.
In Washington, A Homeland Security spokesman, David Lapan, tweeted Monday the department has ‘no information to indicate a specific credible threat involving other public venues in the country.’
Leaders from around the world took to Twitter early Monday to express their sympathies for the victims.
Among those leaders were Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London: UK Prime Minister Theresa May; Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former U.S. President Barack Obama.
In a statement, Pope Francis called the Las Vegas shooting a ‘senseless tragedy’ and is assuring victims of his prayers.
The Vatican secretary of state sent a telegram of condolences Monday to the bishop of Las Vegas, saying the pope was ‘deeply saddened’ to learn of the shooting.
The telegram said Francis praised the efforts of police and emergency crews.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations is asking for anyone with videos or photos concerning the shooting to call 1-800-CALLFBI or (800) 225-5324.
LVMPD and Clark County Coroner’s Office have set up a hotline for family or friends to report a missing loved one connected to this incident. The hotline is only to take reports on missing people. The number is (866) 535-5654. LVMPH also opened up a family reunification center at its headquarters at 400 S. Martin L. King Blvd. in Building B.
A fund for victims has been set up on Go Fund Me. So far, the fund has raised more than $34,000.
People comfort each other after the shooting on Sunday
A discarded cowboy hat is seen lying in the street in the wake of the horrifying mass shooting
Bystanders on the Las Vegas Strip come to terms with what they’ve seen after the brutal shooting