Newbridge people in hotel lockdown due to Las Vegas mass shooting

A number of people from Newbridge are in lockdown in their hotel in Las Vegas as a result of the mass shooting which resulted in at least 58 people being killed and another 500 wounded.

The couples are on a trip of a lifetime to Sin City but have been ordered not to leave their hotel rooms due to the gun massacre on the Strip - the deadliest in US history.

The Newbridge natives are in touch with their families to tell them they are OK.

Lockdown for 5 hours

One woman originally from Kildare Town was celebrating her birthday in Vegas with her husband.

Friends said they were in the Mandalay Bay Hotel and were in lockdown for up to 5 hours.

A source told KildareNow: "There are at least three couples originally from Newbridge and Kildare Town who are in Vegas and are caught up in the terrible shooting.

"They were told by their hotel this morning to stay in their rooms and there is a lot of police and soldiers on the streets and hotel lobby.

"They rang home to say they're OK. They were due to come home in a few days."

Police said 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 street music festival.

It was the last night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival attended by 20,000 people.

Paddock died as police blasted their way into his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Police later said he had turned a weapon on himself.

Paddock lived in a two-bedroom home in the tiny desert community of Mesquite, 120km northeast of Las Vegas, near the Arizona state border.

Paddock was a former accountant and a licensed pilot with no criminal record, according to ABC News.

Local media said he had also previously lived in Reno, Nevada, California and Florida.

He lived with partner Marilou Danley, 62, records show.

Security officials earlier said Paddock appeared to have been working alone, and his brother told US media he had no known religious affiliation.

Mr Lombardo said rumours of other shootings or explosives such as car bombs in the area were false.

The suspected shooter's brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news.

"We have no idea. We're horrified. We're bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims," Mr Paddock said in a brief telephone interview, his voice trembling.

"We have no idea in the world."

US President Donald Trump offered his condolences to the victims via a post on Twitter.