Stephen Paddock was a 64-year-old former auditor and real estate businessman who had been living 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Las Vegas in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada. The 2017 festival ran from September 29 to October 1, with over 22,000 attendees on the final day. From 2014 onward, the venue hosted the annual Route 91 Harvest country music festival. Las Vegas Village, a 15-acre (6.1-hectare) lot used for outdoor performances, was located diagonally across the intersection to the northeast. The Strip is known for its concentration of casinos and resort hotels, including the 43-story Mandalay Bay southwest of its intersection with Mandalay Bay Road, in the unincorporated town of Paradise. The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard immediately south of the city of Las Vegas in Clark County, Nevada.
Even my grieving was questioned because of my identity," he added. "Immediately her answer was, 'this is not the right time or place for you.' I went there trying to be among my own community, to grieve together with them. "The moment I introduced myself to someone who is also part of the (LGBT) community, she asked me what my nationality is and I said I am Afghan," Munhazim revealed. Qais Munhazim, a doctoral political science student at the University of Minnesota, shared his experiences in attending a vigil a day after the attack: Reuters and other publications said that there have been tensions between the Muslim and LGBT communities in America following the shooting. Several other reports, however, have suggested that Mateen was gay himself, with accounts from his ex-wife and even a man claiming to be his former lover. The shooter, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, who was also killed during the attack, pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State terror group in a phone call to police, and explained he was carrying out the shooting to avenge Muslims killed by the American government. "In standing together, hand in hand, across every faith, we send a powerful message to those who seek to divide us using hatred and violence: love is stronger than hate and hope will defeat fear," it added.