<p>At least 58 people are dead and 518 more wounded after a gunman opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas Sunday night.</p> 
<p>The assailant opened fire with a fully automatic weapon just as Jason Aldean was beginning his show at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.</p> 
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<p>Videos posted on social media show Aldean, one of the biggest names in the genre, singing as very rapid gunfire begins in the background.</p> 
<p>He can be seen running from stage as he, and the thousands in the crowd who came to see him, realized the horror of what was happening.</p> 
<p>No matter how often these tragedies occur (and it is far too often), one never goes into an event thinking it will happen then or there.</p> 
<p>The terror is unimaginable.</p> 
<p>In this case, it was also protracted. A <a href="http://people.com/crime/active-shooter-reported-near-las-vegas-casino-hotel-during-country-music-festival/" type="external">gunman continued to rain bullets</a> on the audience for up to two terrifying hours, reports indicate.</p> 
<p>Victims ran to safety, according to NBC News, during momentary breaks in the violence, at which point the shooter presumably reloaded.</p> 
<a type="internal" /> Many were trapped in the venue for what must have felt like an eternity, but police SWAT officers eventually found and killed the shooter. 
<p>He was found on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said, and shot dead.</p> 
<p>&#8220;Right now we believe it&#8217;s a solo act, a lone wolf attacker,&#8221; Lombardo told reporters. &#8220;We are pretty confident there is no longer a threat.&#8221;</p> 
<p>The gunman has not yet been identified.</p> 
<p>Aldean said he was safe in an Instagram post early Monday, sharing an image of the city and asking for prayers for the victims:</p> 
<p>&#8220;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."</p> 
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<p>"My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight,&#8221; he wrote, clearly as stunned and traumatized as anyone else.</p> 
<p>&#8220;It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night.&#8221;</p> 
<p>Aldean&#8217;s wife Brittany Kerr posted her own message on Instagram, saying, &#8220;We are safe&#8230; our angels were definitely watching over us tonight."</p> 
<p>"No words for what happened," she added.</p> 
<p>"Just horrific. Praying for everyone.&#8221;</p> 
<p>Witness accounts are what you would expect - unable to fully do justice to what happened as you read this, but terrifying nonetheless.</p> 
<p>Country star Jake Owen was one of the witnesses, having just finished his set and was still on stage when the shooting started.</p> 
<a type="internal" /> &#8220;I was crouched down behind a cop car," he said. 
<p>"There was blood on people and you could see a couple of people in the streets that looked like they had been shot,&#8221; Owen added.</p> 
<p>Ivetta Saldana told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, &#8220;It was was a horror show. People were standing around, then they hit the floor.&#8221;</p> 
<p>Robyn Webb, who was at the concert along with her husband last night, told the newspaper, &#8220;It just kept coming. It was relentless.&#8221;</p> 
<p>Authorities, meanwhile, are searching for a 62-year-old woman named Marylou Danley, whom they believe is the gunman&#8217;s roommate.</p> 
<p>Police have searched a home in Mesquite, Nevada, 85 miles from Las Vegas, where it is believed the gunman lived with Danley.</p> 
<p>She is considered a person of interest in the case.</p> 
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<p>UPDATE: Police have identified the assailant as Stephen Paddock, 64. He is shown above with his companion, Danley.</p> 
<p>Paddock is believed to have begun his attack around 10:00 pm local time and to have continued shooting for two hours.</p> 
<p>Police were reportedly able to locate Paddock quickly due to the smoke from his weapon setting off hotel fire detectors.</p> 
<p>Paddock's motives for the shooting remain unclear. Early reports indicate that he was not a member of any militant group.</p> 
<p>He was not known to hold extremist political or religious beliefs, though the investigation into the matter is just hours old.</p> 
<p>Danley was apprehended for questioning at 3:40 a.m.</p> 
<a type="internal" /> It is not currently known if she's being treated as an accomplice in the attack, or whether law enforcement simply wants to learn more. 
<p>In any case, reports indicate that several guns, including at least eight rifles, were found in the room rented by Paddock and Danley.</p> 
<p>&#8220;We have no idea what his belief system was,&#8221; Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said during his press briefing early this morning.</p> 
<p>More details to follow as this shocking story develops ...</p> 
<p>UPDATE: The death toll is now 58 and climbing, according to an ABC News report, with more than 518 people wounded.</p> 
<p>Expect that to tragically rise as the day progresses.</p>
Las Vegas Shooting: 50 Dead, 200 Wounded at Jason Aldean Concert