Saturday Night Live ditched its traditional comedic cold open on Saturday in favor of a solemn tribute by country music star Jason Aldean to both the victims of last Sunday night’s massacre in Las Vegas as well as late rocker Tom Petty.
Aldean was invited onto SNL where he paid homage to the victims before playing a rendition of I Won’t Back Down, the 1989 hit single by Petty.
Petty died this week from cardiac arrest. He was 66 years old.
‘This week we witnessed one of the worst tragedies in American history,’ Aldean said.
Saturday Night Live ditched its traditional comedic cold open on Saturday in favor of a solemn tribute by country music star Jason Aldean to both the victims of last Sunday night’s massacre in Las Vegas as well as late rocker Tom Petty
Aldean was invited onto SNL where he paid homage to the victims before playing a rendition of I Won’t Back Down, the 1989 hit single by Petty
‘Like everyone, I’m struggling to understand what happened that night and how to pick up the pieces and start to heal.
‘So many people are hurting. There are children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends. They’re all part of our family.
‘So I want to say to them: We hurt for you. We hurt with you. But you can be sure that we’re gonna walk through these tough times together every step of the way.
‘Because when America is at its best, our bond and our spirit – it’s unbreakable.’
Aldean and his band then began their cover version of Petty’s hit.
Aldean (above) was in the middle of performing on stage at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas last Sunday night when Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on the 22,000 people in the crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Aldean was in the middle of performing on stage at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas last Sunday night when Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on the 22,000 people in the crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
The father-of-two released a statement on social media on Tuesday asking the nation to come together and heal.
‘Over the last 24 hrs I have gone through lots of emotions. Scared, Anger, Heartache, Compassion and many others,’ he wrote.
‘I truely (sic) dont (sic) understand why a person would want to take the life of another. Something has changed in this country and in this world lately that is scary to see.
‘This world is becoming the kind of place i (sic) am afraid to raise my children in. At the end of the day we arent (sic) Democrats or Republicans, Whites or Blacks, Men or Women.
‘We are all humans and we are all Americans and its time to start acting like it and stand together as ONE! That is the only way we will ever get this Country to be better than it has ever been, but we have a long way to go and we have to start now.
‘My heart aches for the Victims and their families of this Senseless act. I am so sorry for the hurt and pain everyone is feeling right now and there are no words i (sic) can say to to take that pain away.
‘Just know u all are in my heart and my prayers as we all go through this together. Time to come together and stop the hate! #stopthehate #prayforlasvegas’.
People attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival crouch down as a gunman opens fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay
Aldean, the father-of-two, released a statement on social media on Tuesday asking the nation to come together and heal. ‘Over the last 24 hrs I have gone through lots of emotions. Scared, Anger, Heartache, Compassion and many others,’ he wrote
Authorities are still investigating what caused Paddock to open fire on concertgoers causing the worst mass shooting in US history
Authorities are still investigating what caused Paddock to open fire on concertgoers causing the worst mass shooting in US history.
It took police 72 minutes to zero in on Paddock’s hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street from the festival.
They say he had cameras set up in the hallway so he would know when authorities arrived.
Paddock continued to fight even as police breached his room – firing through the front door at officers.
But by the time the SWAT team finally made it into the room, Paddock had killed himself.
Paddock lived in 27 residences in Nevada, Florida and Texas as an adult, but other than that he had apparently lived a quiet and unremarkable life.
The retired accountant had worked as an internal auditor at Lockheed Martin for three years in the late 1980s, and was a manager and investor in apartment complexes located in Mesquite, Texas and California, which made him millions, his brother said, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
Local police said they had no run-ins with the man, not even traffic violations, and his brother described him as ‘just a guy who lived in Mesquite who drove down and gambled in Las Vegas and… liked burritos’.
And now photos have emerged of two of the 23 rifles found inside Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock’s hotel room, which he used to rain down death on a crowd of 22,000 attending a music festival on Sunday.
The startling pictures, obtained by Boston 25, show two semi-automatic AR-15-style assault rifles.