The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the shooting in Las Vegas, which has been confirmed as the deadliest of its kind in recent U.S. history.
The ISIS statement did not provide any evidence that the suspected shooter was a Muslim, though they claim him as a recent convert, or that the shooter had any ties to the Islamic State group.
“The Las Vegas attacker is a soldier of the Islamic State in response to calls to target coalition countries,” the group’s news agency Amaq said a statement. “The Las Vegas attacker converted to Islam a few months ago,”
Las Vegas police have confirmed that 64-year-old Stephen Paddock was found dead in his hotel room at the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, and is being treated as the suspect in the shooting.
In addition to the lack of evidence from ISIS, the claim of his affiliation with the group has not yet been independently verified, although reports suggest he was “known to local law enforcement.”
ISIS has previously encouraged its supporters and lone-wolf jihadis to target Las Vegas, with a propaganda video from 2016 using footage of the city’s iconic strip which was described as “sin city.” It has also published statements claiming a variety of global atrocities for which there has been limited evidence linking assailants to the group. ISIS has suffered major losses in the past year in its “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq.
Police have confirmed that over 50 people died in the shooting, which targeted an outdoor country music festival, while over 200 people have sustained injuries.
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