Photos show the smashed windows at the Mandalay Bay hotel where a gunman opened fire on a music festival in Las Vegas

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October 2, 2017 4:21 PM

As the sun rose in Las Vegas on Monday, photos emerged of the window through which Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 festival, killing at least 50.

As the sun rose on the Las Vegas strip on Monday, it revealed two smashed windows on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, from which a gunman opened fire on a country music festival the night before, killing at least 59 and wounding 527.

Soon after the shooting, which began at 10:08 p.m. PDT on Sunday, a SWAT team stormed the building, forced its way into his hotel room, and found the gunman already dead.

The police have said the gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, had at least 10 rifles in his hotel room, which he checked into three days before the attack. Some automatic weapons are legal in Nevada, though Mandalay Bay, in its policies, says weapons "are strictly prohibited" on the property.

Paddock smashed the windows with a "hammer-like device," authorities said Monday.

Associated Press and Getty photos show a second window broken on the same floor, where drapes billowed out of the broken glass.

Authorities didn't specify whether the attacker shot out of both. NBC News reported law enforcement officials speculated that Paddock may have booked connecting rooms or a suite and shot out of both windows in order to "get a different vantage point or to avoid return-fire."

Many of the Route 91 Harvest festival's more than 22,000 attendees were young people, including families with kids. The country star Jason Aldean was onstage performing his headliner set to close the three-day festival when the gunman opened fire.

Here's another photo taken shortly after the attack on Sunday night. You can see the two smashed windows here too.

This article was updated at 4:45 p.m. ET.

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