Responding: To Las Vegas shooting. Twitter

CNN reports that a sniper firing from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel on an outdoor music festival crowd below killed 50 and wounded 200 more before being killed. UPDATE: The sheriff has now put the death toll at 58. The gunman apparently shot himself as officers closed in.

This New York Times account also reports officers have found a woman who apparently lived or traveled with the suspected gunman and she apparently is not considered a suspect in the shooting. By one account, the woman, who’d worked in casinos as a hostess, numbered among past cities of residence Springdale, Ark.

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The shooter, believed to have acted alone, has been identified as a local resident. ABC said he was Stephen Paddock, 64.  No inkling of motive yet.

I’m puzzled that some law enforcement officers were hesitant in initial reports to call mass murder an act of terrorism.

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Noted: Jason Aldean, who was performing when shooting began, is scheduled to appear at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock on Oct. 13.

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