Monday, October 02, 2017

Las Vegas야외 공연장에 총기난사, 58명이상 사망, 범인은 바로 자살, 사상자는 늘어날전망.


미국 역사상 최악의 총기난사  참사가  어젯밤 Las Vegas의 야외 공연장에서 일어났다. 3일간 계속된 Country Music Festival에서 발생한 것이다.

범인은 야외 공연장 옆에 있는 Mandalay Bay Hotel 32층에 투숙하고 있던  Stephen Paddock으로 64세의 백인 이라고 알려졌다.  경찰에 따르면, 경찰이 그의 방에 들이닥쳤을때는, 이미 그는 자살한  상태였고, 그의 시체 옆에는 10여개의 총기들이 있었다고 한다.

이시간 현재 58명의 Festival goers들이 사망했고, 515명 이상이 병원으로 이송됐다고 한다.
Trump 대통령은 "The act of Pure evil"이라고 표현하면서 개탄의 Tweet을 날렸다.

나개인적으로는  미국에 인접해 살고 있지만, 가고싶은 열망이 처음부터 적었었는데, 이번 총기사건으로 더 앞으로 가게될 기회를 찾지 않을것 같다.

미국은 헌법에도 총기소지를 방어차원에서 합적으로 매우 명료하게 명시하고 있다.  오래전 지금은 돌아가신  Reagan대통령이 저격당하는 수모까지 겪었지만, 총기소지는 미국의 역사와 함께 전해져 내려온 전통(?)이기에 개인들이 총기소지하는것을 금지하는 법안을 정치가들이 상정 한다는것은 정치적 생명을 끊는, 미국민들의 정서에 반하는 것이기 때문에, 그 어떤 정치가도 감히 앞장서서, 법안 상정을 기대 한다는것은 공상누각에 불과할 뿐이다.

이번 총기 사건으로, 전문가들의 분석을 보면, 미국 역사상 최악의 총기살인극이었다고 한다.

At least 58 people have been killed and another 515 taken to hospital after a mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert. 
A gunman, named as 64-year-old local resident Stephen Paddock, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel towards an open-air music festival attended by 22,000. 
He was found dead after officers stormed the room where a number of guns were found.
The attack is the worst mass shooting in recent US history. 
US President Donald Trump tweeted his "warmest condolences and sympathies" to the victims and their families, and called the shooting "terrible".
Sheriff Joe Lombardo described the shooting as a "lone wolf" attack. He said there was no information about Paddock's motives.
"We have no idea what his belief system was," he said.
He added that police were now confident they had located a woman, earlier named as Marilou Danley, who was thought to have been travelling with the gunman before the attack. 
Sheriff Lombardo said he was unable to give accurate details of dead and wounded, but confirmed two off-duty police officers were among those killed.
A local hospital spokesperson said earlier that at least 14 of the injured were in a critical condition.

'Attack will stun America'

By the BBC's James Cook, in Las Vegas
This has been a mass shooting which has shocked Las Vegas - it has stunned this city. It is very clear that it will be an event which will stun the USA too, a country in which, regrettably, such mass shootings - even if on a lesser scale - are not uncommon.
As to to why the gunman may have carried out this attack, there is no indication of motive at this stage. He was said to have had a large arsenal, a huge number of weapons in that hotel room, which police finally stormed using explosives. 
As to why he would have set himself up up there in that way, to do as he did, it is just so, so difficult to fathom.

Witnesses reported that hundreds of shots were fired. 
Hundreds of people fled the scene and the sound of what appeared to be prolonged automatic gunfire could be heard on videos posted on social media.
Many hotels on the Las Vegas strip close to the scene remained on police lockdown and parts of Las Vegas Boulevard were shut.
People sheltered in hotels, restaurants and at Las Vegas McCarran airport.
A witness, Mike Thompson from London, told the BBC that he saw people running in total panic. 
"One man had blood all over him and that's when I knew something was seriously wrong.
"People were running and there was chaos."
Concert-goer Mike McGarry told Reuters he lay on top of his children when the shots rang out.
"They're 20, I'm 53. I lived a good life," he said.
They survived.
Some flights were diverted after news of the incident emerged. 
The country music festival had been taking place since Friday at several hotels on the Las Vegas strip. 
Singer Jason Aldean, who was rushed off stage when the shooting started, shared on Instagram that he was safe but heartbroken and did not know what to say.
"Tonight has been beyond horrific," he wrote.
"It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night."

Nevada has some of the least stringent gun laws in the United States.
People are allowed to carry weapons and do not have to register themselves as a gun-owner.
Background checks are done when people buy guns, but they are also allowed to sell them privately.
The state does not ban assault weapons, which include automatic or semi-automatic firearms.


Are you in Las Vegas? Have you been affected by the incident? If it's safe to do so, share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41466116

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/us/las-vegas-shooter/index.html

No comments: