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TRUMP: Las Vegas mass shooting was 'an act of pure evil'

Oct 2, 2017, 20:35 IST

Donald Trump.AP Photo/Evan Vucci

President Donald Trump delivered brief remarks Monday on the deadly mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert Sunday night, calling the attack "an act of pure evil."

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"We are joined together today in sadness, shock, and grief," Trump said at the White House.

At least 50 people were killed and more than 400 were injured in what was by Monday morning the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

A gunman, whom police identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Nevada, opened fire with rifles from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Police said he aimed down and across the street at concertgoers who were attending the Route 91 Harvest festival, packed with thousands of people. Authorities found Paddock dead in his hotel room upon arrival.

The president thanked the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for their response, saying the "speed with which they acted is miraculous and prevented further loss of life."

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"To find the shooter so quickly after the first shots were fired is something for which we will always be thankful and grateful," he said.

Trump said he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. He was already set to visit hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico on Tuesday.

"We cannot fathom their pain. We cannot imagine their loss," Trump said of the victims' families.

He later said that "our unity cannot be shattered by evil" and that "we pray for the day evil is banished and the innocent are safe from hatred and fear."

Trump initially responded to the violence Monday morning, tweeting his "warmest condolences and sympathies."

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"My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting," Trump tweeted Monday morning. "God bless you!"

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