LAS VEGAS — Vero Beach native and country singer Jake Owen was among the performers at the Las Vegas concert where a lone gun man killed more than 50 people and injured more than 400 others. Owen was not injured.
He had taken the stage two hours before the shooting began, 8 p.m. Las Vegas time. He had turned over the stage to country star Jason Aldean at 9:40 p.m. The deadly shooting started just after 10 p.m., officials said.
Owen tweeted that he was not hurt but that others were.
“Praying for everyone here in Vegas,” he tweeted. “I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. We are okay. Other’s aren’t. Please pray.”
He described the scene in another tweet: “Gun shots were ringing off of the stage rigging and road cases. No one knew where to go. Thank you LVPD and responders for keeping us safe.”
Owen had been performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a country music festival, held on the Las Vegas Strip.
According to media reports, the shooter opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay using what some have described as possibly military grade automatic guns. There are conflicting reports on how the gunman died, with some reports that say he was killed by police and others that say he killed himself before police stormed his room.
Inside the room, police found 10 rifles, according to media reports. No motive has been confirmed for the massacre.
With more than 50 confirmed dead, this makes the Las Vegas shooting the most deadly U.S. mass shooting – surpassing the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.