Former Rare Staff
Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo announced early Monday that among the many concertgoers whose lives were stolen in an act of “pure evil” late Sunday that one of his own Las Vegas Metro Police Department officers was killed.
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The department confirmed this on Twitter without naming the off-duty officer.
We are sadden to report that one of the deceased from Sunday night's shooting, was an off-duty #LVMPD police officer. #LVMPDnews
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017
The sadness in Sheriff Lombardo’s voice upon announcing the death of the officer was palpable. The officer was attending the country music festival as a civilian. A second officer was injured and had been listed in critical but stable condition.
“1 [officer] was critical but he’s stable, & one of my officers was off duty attending the concert & lost his life,” Sheriff Lombardo says pic.twitter.com/tCK9e4kHTl
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2017
“One is critical but stable and one of my officers was off-duty attending the concert and lost his life,” Lombardo said. “It’s a devastating time. We have responded to the scene, and we’re doing the best we can to provide safety to the survivors.”
Sheriff Lombardo said that officers from other jurisdictions were also wounded but could not provide specifics.
The Los Angeles Times reported that “multiple police officers, both on and off duty, were among those killed or injured,” as well as two members of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
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At the time of this writing, the number dead is at least 58, while more than 500 people were taken to hospitals.
