Chidi Okereke
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Las Vegas Strip Shooting, USA (October 1, 2017). Deaths: 58
On the 1st of October 2017, Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old real-estate investor, property manager, retired accountant, and avid gambler positioned himself on the 32nd floor of a hotel and fired into a crowd of around 22,000 people at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Considered the deadliest mass shooting in US history, 58 people were killed in the attack, before Stephen shot himself.
While his motives remain unknown, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. Fun fact, Stephen’s father was a bank robber and was in the FBI’s most wanted list in the late 60s/early 70s.
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Norway Attacks, Norway (July 22, 2011). Deaths: 77
On the 22nd of July 2011, Anders Berjvik detonated a fertilizer bomb outside the tower block housing the prime minister of Norway. 8 people were killed and over 200 were injured. Hours later, he took a ferry to the island of Utøya, where the youth division of the Norwegian Labour Party were having a summer camp. Breivik opened fire on participants, killing 68 and injuring 110. One of the injured victims later died, increasing the deaths to 69.
When the public force counter-terrorism unit arrived on the island and confronted him, he surrendered without resistance. After his arrest, he said the purpose of the attack was to save Norway and Western Europe from a Muslim takeover. He is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence – Norway’s highest civilian prison sentence (with a possibility of being free in 14 years). Sigh.
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Paris Attacks, France (November 13, 2015). Deaths: 130
The Paris attacks began when 3 suicide bombers detonated themselves outside the Stade de France, during a football match. It was followed by several mass shootings and a suicide bombing at cafés and restaurants in the city. While Parisians were still trying to understand what was going on, gunmen went to an Eagles of Death Metal concert in the Bataclan theatre, opened fire on attendees and took hostages. When the police arrived and engaged them, the attackers were either shot or blew themselves up.
Out of the 130 people who died that day, 89 were killed at the Bataclan, while another 413 people were injured. The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which remains the deadliest in France’s history since the Second World War. On 18 November, the suspected lead operative of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a police raid in Saint-Denis, along with two others.
