Weapons & Guns

Imagine Dragons' lead singer Dan Reynolds delivered a strong message of anti-terror in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Las Vegas ... their hometown.

The band performed Wednesday night in Chicago, and Dan paused to tell the crowd their tour has taken on a new meaning after the tragedy. He gave big props to all the fans who continue coming out to their concerts, and defiantly denounced all forms of terrorism.

He also reassured fans they would take every precaution to keep them safe.

Jesus Campos, the Mandalay Bay security guard who alerted police to the Las Vegas shooter, is speaking out for the first time about the violent encounter that left him with gunshot wounds.

Jesus opened up to Ellen DeGeneres ... detailing the harrowing moments leading up to him discovering Stephen Paddock on the 32nd floor, just as he was starting to open fire on the crowd of concertgoers below.

He thinks a loud slamming door during his routine check of the floor is what tipped off his location to Paddock, who then started shooting into the hallway -- and hit Campos in the leg.

One of Elvis Presley's beloved pieces -- a Smith & Wesson -- can be yours, but it's gonna take a king's ransom to get it! See what we did there?

Elvis' .38 caliber Smith & Wesson Chief Special revolver is now for sale through Moments in Time -- and it's going for a whopping $95,000 ... first come, first served.

The gun was originally purchased by The King himself at a Memphis gun shop in 1971 ... where the paperwork shows he also bought 5 other revolvers the same day. Elvis was a low-key gun nut, who often unloaded on his TVs.

Elvis had this particular firearm engraved with his T.C.B. lighting bolt logo -- which stood for Taking Care of Business in a flash.

Colton Haynes couldn't have said it better -- it was great that 'American Horror Story' producers cut out a shooting scene in the wake of the Vegas massacre.

We got the 'AHS: Cult' star at LAX where we asked him about Tuesday's episode that was supposed to include heavy gun violence in the opening scene. The mass shooting scene, however, was not broadcasted on TV.

The gory scene was still available on FX's on-demand feature. Nonetheless, producers made the point for the mass audience ... and Colton says the decision was spot on.

O.T. Genasis went from 0-100 REAL QUICK after his car got dinged up at the club, and some guy handed him a knife to vent his fury.

We got O.T. Wednesday night leaving Project Club LA where he found his 2018 Rolls-Royce scratched and dented. Understandably, he was HOT as fish grease at the valet for blowing his "one job," and also at everyone in his crew.

And just as he started to calm down, some dude handed O.T. a blade to handle his biz! It's a crazy scene.

BTW ... turns out the scratch wasn't the valet's fault. There was a gunshot scare an hour earlier, and fleeing patrons knocked the doorman's stand into O.T.'s whip. Oops? We're told the club covered the damage.

12:05 PM PT -- An MGM Resorts spokesperson also tells us:

“The tragic incident that took place on October 1st was a meticulously planned, evil senseless act. As our company and city work through the healing process, our primary focus and concern is taking actions to support the victims and their families, our guests and employees and cooperating with law enforcement ... Out of respect for the victims we are not going to try this case in the public domain and we will give our response through the appropriate legal channels.”

12:00 PM PT-- A rep for Live Nation tells us, "We continue to be devastated by the tragedy at the Route 91 Festival, heartbroken for the victims, their families and the countless people forever impacted by this senseless act of violence and are cooperating fully with the active FBI investigation. We are, however, unable to comment specifically on pending litigation."

One of the Las Vegas shooting victims has filed the first lawsuit against Stephen Paddock's estate along with MGM Resorts and Live Nation, claiming they're all to blame for her life-threatening injuries.

Paige Gasper, a 21-year-old from CA, filed the suit in Clark County, Nevada ... and in the docs she says the venue and promoter are just as responsible as Paddock because they failed to properly protect concertgoers from mortal danger.

Gasper says she was struck by a bullet that entered her right underarm, cut across her right breast, shattered her ribs and lacerated her liver before exiting her body. She says the bullet incapacitated her, and fleeing concertgoers ended up trampling her, which she partly blames on Live Nation for having an inadequate exit plan.

A Good Samaritan eventually picked her up and put her on a flatbed truck with other victims, and they were raced to a hospital. Gasper is also suing the manufacturers of bump stocks, which helped turn Paddock's semi-automatic rifle into a near fully-automatic weapon.

We've reached out to MGM and Live Nation, so far no word back.

Producers for "American Horror Story" made good on their promise to edit a mass shooting scene for this week's episode, but the carnage can still be seen online.

FX aired "Mid-Western Assassin" Tuesday, and you can see they significantly pared it down to avoid showing anyone actually getting shot. You mostly just hear the victims.

The decision to make major cuts to the shooting scene came on the heels of the Vegas mass shooting. However, viewers can still use FX's video-on-demand feature to watch the unedited version of the scene ... where at least 3 people are shot onscreen.

UNLV hockey assistant coach Nick Robone has been released from the hospital ... one week after getting shot in the chest during the massacre in Vegas.

The 28-year-old -- who was hit with a bullet that barely missed his lung -- released a statement Tuesday thanking hospital staffers, friends and family for helping during his recovery.

"You've all shown me a sense of compassion that I'll be spending the rest of my life (hopefully much longer now) repaying. I'm excited to back in the community helping any way I can."

Robone's brother Anthony -- a paramedic -- was with Nick at the concert and dragged him to safety. He treated Nick on the scene and helped keep him alive until help arrived.

BTW, one of Nick's friends started a GoFundMe page to raise money for medical costs and it's already at $65k.

Nick posted a message saying, "Ok, you'll be seeing me around now. THANK YOU, for being my staple during all this. Look forward to helping others now. #VegasStrong."

8:15 PM PT -- Police found the shooter still on campus and took him alive. According to campus police the incident began with a welfare check on a student. Officers say they found drugs and drug paraphernalia, and took the student, Hollis Daniels, into custody.

While he was at the police station, cops say Daniels pulled a gun and shot and killed an officer. It's unclear if the gun was his or belonged to an officer.

6:54 PM PT -- A campus police officer has been shot and killed. A SWAT team is currently looking for the shooter, who is described as 6 feet tall, 140 lbs with red hair and blue eyes wearing a white T and blue jeans. He reportedly fled in a vehicle.

Texas Tech University is currently on lockdown as an active shooter is reportedly on the loose.

The university's Twitter account tweeted a warning to students and faculty late Monday saying there was a shooting at the TTU Police Department, and that the shooter was at large. They also told people on campus to take shelter.

The reported shooting comes on the heels of the Vegas massacre, where shooter Stephen Paddock gunned down more than 50 people and left hundreds more injured.

The Las Vegas mass shooting and the horrific carnage it left behind hasn't put a damper on Vegas Halloween stores -- realistic looking toy guns are still for sale.

We called a bunch of stores in the area and they say they'll continue pushing toy guns ... but with a new ground rule. Customers were permitted in the past to test and play with the fake weapons in the store ... that's no longer the case, because they feel it will scare other customers, especially kids.

The bigger point ... these toys guns are still for sale, which means kids will be brandishing them out on the street on Halloween night, which is a scary proposition given what happened last Sunday.

Stephen Paddock was alone in his room when he carried out the mass shooting ... according to Las Vegas Metro Police.

Cops just provided an update on the mass shooting investigation and said they're confident "there was not another shooter in that room." Cops, however, are still investigating whether anyone else may have known about the attack before it was carried out.

The cops are not saying definitively there was no other shooter.

As we reported ... the FBI's already interviewed Paddock's girlfriend, and she told them she knew nothing beforehand. LV Metro Police had previously released some body cam footage of the disturbing scene.

Sheryl Crow is taking a bold stance in the country music world -- saying it's time performers and fans reconsider their outlook on guns, especially semi-automatic ones.

We got Sheryl at LAX Thursday and asked her how the country music community will respond to the Las Vegas mass shooting. Her answer was anything but vanilla, and she certainly wasn't trying to placate country music's conservative base.

The Austin City Limits Festival starts tonight, and there are some very nervous performers in the wake of Sunday night's Vegas massacre.

Killer Mike concedes he's got the jitters about his headlining gig, being a husband and a father, but he's going to power through his performance Sunday night. He also says he understands ... some, possibly many would-be festivalgoers are going to stay away, and he can't blame them.

That said, we're told law enforcement will blanket the area around Zilker Park. In addition to patrols on foot, bike, car and ATV, the Counter Assault Strike Team will be out in force.

Stephen Paddock called a Chicago hotel he had booked for Lollapalooza back in August to tell them that he wanted someone to call if, before check-in, he couldn't get a view room -- a room that overlooked the venue.

TMZ broke the story ... Paddock booked 2 rooms at the Blackstone Hotel, one on August 1 and another on August 3. The concert -- which drew a total of around 400,000 people, started on the 3rd.

Paddock booked the rooms through a third party -- Expedia. Our sources say he then called the hotel and asked for a view room. We're told the hotel does not guarantee view rooms, but for some reason in the hotel computer system there's a note that guaranteed Paddock a view room.

We're told the hotel is now trying to figure out why someone on the staff broke policy by guaranteeing him a room with a view.

It appears Paddock didn't know he got what he was after -- a guaranteed view room -- because the notes in the computer say if he couldn't get a room with a view he wanted a heads up before arriving.

This incredibly intense video shows Dan Bilzerian frantically searching inside a police truck Sunday night as terrified concertgoers ducked for cover from the hail of bullets.

Dan -- the gun enthusiast getting roasted on social media for running away from the massacre -- is seen in this video running with a panicked group and hiding behind an unmanned Las Vegas Metro PD truck ... in the shadow of Mandalay Bay.

The video's intense -- some people are covered in blood, while others angrily debate whether to remain hiding there or make a run for it. Dan seemed adamant about taking matters into his own hands ... as he rummaged through the police unit, clearly looking for a firearm.

It's unclear if the vid was recorded before or after Bilzerian begged a cop for a gun.

Stephen Paddock had his sights set on Lollapalooza in Chicago and even booked 2 rooms in a hotel that overlooked the massive outdoor venue ... TMZ has learned.

Check out this pic of a computer screen at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago, located across the street from the venue, Grant Park, where 400,000 people -- including Malia Obama -- squeezed in over 4 days to watch big musical acts.

Paddock booked one room for August 1, 2017, 2 days before the August 3 kickoff. Paddock then booked a second room for an August 3 arrival. Both rooms had an August 6 checkout ... that's when Lollapalooza ended.

The hotel directly overlooked the main stage as well as several adjoining stages. It also overlooks the main entrance and exit where thousands of people file through. And the hotel had a bird's-eye view of the crowd. We're told Paddock specifically requested both rooms be a "view room" which only face Grant Park, where the concert was being held. And here's the scariest part ... it's difficult if not impossible to flee because of Lake Michigan. Sources tell TMZ Paddock had never booked a room at the hotel before, nor had his girlfriend.

Our sources say Paddock never showed.