A San Diego attorney was among 59 people killed by a man who opened fire with an arsenal of guns on a crowd at an outdoor country- music show on the Las Vegas Strip, committing the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history before dying of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.
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Jennifer Irvine, who ran a family-law and criminal-defense practice out of an office high-rise near El Cortez hotel, died Sunday evening in the massacre at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival, a three-day event at Las Vegas Village, a co-worker disclosed via a social-media message.
"My good friend, colleague, and business partner Jennifer Irvine was killed by a madman at the festival in Las Vegas," attorney Thomas Slattery of Coronado posted on his Facebook page. "A tragic loss of a kind, generous, and beautiful lady. She will be greatly missed."
One of seven San Diego firefighters in attendance at the concert suffered a minor injury during the rampage, department spokeswoman Monica Munoz said. She would not elaborate.
"They were not on duty when this happened, so it's private," she said. "I got permission from the injured (firefighter) to release that much."
As many as two dozen off-duty police officers and firefighters from San Diego were at the open-air show when the gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, began shooting from the 32nd floor of nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, unleashing a fusillade of gunfire that lasted 10 to 15 minutes.
In a predawn tweet, SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman stated that she was grateful the members of her agency present during the mass shooting were unharmed.
"We are all grieving with (the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department) and everyone affected by this horrific attack," Zimmerman added.
Likewise, San Diego Fire Chief Brian Fennessy stated that his agency "sends our condolences and prayers to all those affected by this horrific and tragic shooting."
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A spokeswoman from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said no deputies from the agency were believed to have been in attendance at the festival.
One Las Vegas-area officer responding to the shooting was critically injured while another sustained minor injuries, police said. Two off-duty officers from the Las Vegas area reportedly were killed.
The gunman apparently killed himself before SWAT officers stormed the hotel room where he'd been staying for several days, according to police.
Authorities disclosed no suspected motive for the massacre.\
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Country-music singer Jason Aldean, who was on stage when the gunfire erupted, is scheduled to play a concert Saturday at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, as well as shows Friday in Los Angeles and Sunday in Anaheim. It remained unknown this afternoon if those concerts would go forward as planned.
