:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/7TGWUBA5UCD5TXR5CZFLPG2HWM.jpg)
At least 58 people died and more than 500 others were wounded when a gunman opened fire on a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
The gunman, Stephen Paddock (64\), later killed himself, police said.
This is the worst mass shooting in the United States and is among a series of such incidents dating back to at least the mid-1990s.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4XGGRGX2L2OS72YWRSKJCEM3RU.jpg)
Below are some of the bloodiest episodes in recent years, ranked by the number of dead:
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/Z3Z6KRNZU3RVII7HBDJBGC27V4.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/NDI56QSQ5MBUA7LYBTMSY4KNTE.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/CC252ZDP4M6NOB54NYHO2G2D4A.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/AM5SEPSJFCGWZWQV3BHHDQWEPE.jpg)
ORLANDO, June 12th, 2016
A gunman fatally shoots 49 people at gay nightclub Pulse before he is shot dead by police. At the time it was the worst mass shooting in recent US history.
VIRGINIA TECH, April 16th, 2007
A gunman slaughters 32 people and kills himself at Virginia Tech, a university in Blacksburg, Virginia.
SANDY HOOK, December 14th, 2012
A man shoots dead his mother, then kills 20 children, six adults and himself at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
SAN BERNARDINO, December 2nd, 2015
A husband and wife kill 14 people at a workplace holiday party in San Bernardino in Southern California before dying in a shootout with police.
COLUMBINE, April 20th, 1999
Two teenagers rampage through Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, shooting dead 12 students and a teacher and wounding more than 20 others before killing themselves.
BINGHAMTON, April 3rd, 2009
A Vietnamese immigrant opens fire at an immigrant services centre in Binghamton, New York, killing 13 people and wounding four. He then kills himself.
FORT HOOD, November 5th, 2009
An army major and psychiatrist opens fire at Fort Hood, a US Army base in Texas, killing 13 people. He is sentenced to death.
WASHINGTON, DC, September 16th, 2013
A former Navy reservist working as a government contractor kills 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard. He is shot dead by police.
COLORADO, July 20th, 2012
A masked gunman kills 12 people and wounds 70 when he opens fire at a midnight premiere of Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Denver. He receives a life sentence.
WASHINGTON, DC, October 2002
Two men ambush 13 people, killing 10 of them, in sniper-style shootings that terrorise the Washington area for three weeks. One sniper was executed and the other was sentenced to life in prison.
OREGON, October 1st, 2015
A man opens fire on the Umpqua Community College campus in southwest Oregon, killing nine people before he is shot dead by police.
CHARLESTON, June 17th, 2015
A white supremacist kills nine black churchgoers at a historic, predominantly black church in Charleston, South Carolina.
WACO, May 17th, 2015
Rival motorcycle gangs kill nine at a restaurant in Waco, Texas. More than 170 people are arrested.
WISCONSIN, August 5th, 2012
A white supremacist kills six worshippers in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The gunman kills himself.
TUCSON, January 8th, 2011
Then-U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords is the target of an assassination attempt by a gunman in Tucson, Arizona. Six people are killed and 13, including Giffords, are wounded.
AMISH school, October 2nd, 2006
A gunman kills five girls in a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, before killing himself.
Reuters