Las Vegas Shooting: Festival banned attendees from carrying firearms
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Festival venue didn't allow festival attendees to bring weapons. (iStock)
Last night a gunman located on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort opened fire on a music festival at Las Vegas Village across the street, killing 59 and injuring over 500 others.
The Route 91 Harvest Festival debuted in 2014 as part of Las Vegas’ push to have more live music options. Since the first year, the three-day festival has sold out each year.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With the large volumes of people attending, MGM Resorts, who owns and operates the Village, placed restrictions on what people could and could not bring into the open-air venue. According to the official website, concert-goers were prohibited from bringing in “weapons, firearms, pepper stray, pocket knives or mace,” or “bags or backpacks.”
The Village is one of two open-air venues MGM owns on the strip.
The festival – which drew over 25,000 people per day last year – was the first festival in Las Vegas exclusively dedicated to country music.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Live Nation – the promotors behind the festival – issued a statement about the tragedy.
“We are heartbroken over the tragedy that took place at the Route 91 festival. To think that anyone would want to inflict harm on a gathering of music lovers is beyond our comprehension,” chief communications officer for Live Nation, Carrie Davis said in an email statement.
“And while we are stunned and grieving over this incomprehensible act of violence, we know that this is a moment when we must come together to prevent more tragedies like this from occurring,” Davis said.
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The entertainment group, who has been putting on the festival for three years, also offered “deepest gratitude to the heroic first responders who helped save as many lives as possible” and support to the victims, their families and Live Nation employees, thanking those on-site for their “bravery and perseverance over the past 24 hours.”
The Village is now the site of the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.