Country Singer Shares Stage Perspective of Chaotic Las Vegas Shooting

Jake Owen told the Today show he was onstage Sunday night just 50 feet away from performer Jason Aldean when a lone gunman opened fire on a crowd at a country festival in Las Vegas.

“It got faster and faster, almost like it sounded like it was an automatic rifle. You could hear it ringing off the tops of the rafters of the stage,” Owen told the Today show on Monday morning. “That’s when you saw people fleeing. At that point, everyone on stage just started running everywhere possible. It was pretty chaotic for sure.”

Country singer Jason Aldean posted a “Pray for Las Vegas” graphic on Instagram, calling the night “beyond horrific.”

Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate

A post shared by Jason Aldean (@jasonaldean) on Oct 2, 2017 at 1:17am PDT

Law enforcement identified 64-year-old Stephen Paddock as the gunman; a resident of Mesquite, Nevada, police say Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sunday night. Multiple outlets are reporting that at least 50 are dead and more than 400 injured after the shooting.