Debris is strewn through the scene of a mass shooting at a music festival near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Sunday’s mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas underscores the security vulnerabilities of open-air attractions, shopping malls, tourist destinations and venues around Southern California, experts say.
At least 59 people were killed and more than 520 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The gunman has been identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, who reportedly shot from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. He was later found dead.
The security vulnerabilities “are virtually infinite” in Southern California, given there are so many public places and open-air venues, said Brian Jenkins, an authority on terrorism and security at the Santa Monica-based RAND Corp.
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard on Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. A gunman has opened fire on a music festival in Las Vegas, leaving at least 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A gunman has opened fire on a music festival in Las Vegas, leaving at least 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Concert attendees Nate Andor and Summer Neria, of Huntington Beach, Calif., near the scene where hours earlier a gunman rained a rapid-fire barrage over an outdoor concert from the nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas, Oct. 2, 2017. The gunman Ð identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock Ð killed at least 58 people, and wounded hundreds of others, officials said. Police believe Paddock killed himself, and that he was the sole gunman. (Isaac Brekken/The New York Times)
A woman cries while hiding inside the Sands Corporation plane hangar after a mass shooting in which dozens were killed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Al Powers/Invision/AP)
Reed Broschart, center, hug his girlfriend Aria James on the Las Vegas Strip in the aftermath of a mass shooting at a concert Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. The couple, both of Ventura, Calif., attended the concert. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Debris is strewn through the scene of a mass shooting at a music festival near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the music festival, leaving at least 58 people dead and hundreds injured. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
This undated photo shows Sonny Melton, one of the people killed in Las Vegas after a gunman opened fire on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, at a country music festival. (Facebook via AP)
This undated photo provided by Avonna Murfitt shows her son, Adrian Murfitt, of Anchorage, Alaska, who was one of the people killed when a gunman opened fire at a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (Courtesy of Avonna Murfit via AP)
Melissa Fierro of Whittier takes a selfie at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Fierro was shot in the shoulder when a gunman opened fire at an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday, October 1, 2017. (Courtesy Melissa Fierro)
Rachael Parker, a Manhattan Beach Police Records Technician was killed in the Las Vegas shooting Sunday Night. Credit Manhattan Beach Police Department.
San Bernardino County Deputy Recorder Dana Gardner, a county employee of 26 years, was killed in Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Manhattan Beach Middle School Teacher Sandy Casey who was killed in Sunday nights shooting in Las Vegas. Photo via Facebook
Carrie Barnette, 34, was one of those listed as killed in the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. She worked at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim. (Photo by Janice Chamber)
San Bernardino sheriff’s Sgt Brad Powers suffered a gun shot Sunday, October 1, 2017 during the shooting in Las Vegas. He is listed in critical condition. (Courtesy photo)
Melissa Fierro of Whittier was shot when a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Sunday, October 1, 2017. (Courtesy Melissa Fierro)
This undated photo provided by the Ontario Police Department shows Officer Michael Gracia. On Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, Gracia was off duty when he was injured during a mass shooting at a concert in Las Vegas. (Ontario Police Department via AP)
This photo provided by Marissa Nino shows a spring, 2017 self-portrait by her cousin Karessa Royce, 22, lower right, and her friend Pam Rios in Las Vegas. When Royce was wounded in the mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, Rios rushed her to an ambulance which took her to a hospital. She was shot in the shoulder and is in intensive care following surgery for a collapsed lung, but is expected to survive. (Marissa Nino/Karessa Royce via AP)
People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Police run to cover at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher)
This undated photo provided by Eric Paddock shows his brother, Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock. On Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival killing dozens and wounding hundreds. (Courtesy of Eric Paddock via AP)
People assist a wounded woman at the Tropicana during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Stirp in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
Investigators work the scene Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, after a mass shooting at a music festival near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Police guard along the streets outside the the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after a active shooter was reported on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
People embrace after arriving at Metro Headquarters to check on loved ones early Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday. (Yasmina Chavez/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Melissah Burke and her husband Stephen, of Seattle, walk along the Las Vegas Strip near Mandalay Bay hotel and casino Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. The couple, who were attending the music festival last night where a mass shooting occurred, found refuge in a nearby apartment and casino. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
An officer stands outside a gate for the Route 91 Harvest concert venue on the Las Vegas Strip Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A mass shooting occurred late night Sunday at the music festival. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
A police officer takes cover behind a police vehicle during a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A funeral home van leaves the site of a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Drapes billow out of a broken window at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, on the Las Vegas Strip following a deadly shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas. A gunman was found dead inside a hotel room. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
A sign hangs at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival venue Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A deadly shooting occurred Sunday at the music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
A body is covered with a sheet after a mass shooting in which dozens were killed at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
(L-R) First lady Melania Trump, U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence are joined by cabinet members and White House staff as they observe a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House October 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. The White House observed the moment of silence to honor of the victims of Sunday’s mass murder in Las Vegas, the deadliest shooting in recent American history. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
People tend to the wounded outside the Route 91 Harvest Country music festival grounds after an apparent shooting on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers run down Tropicana Ave. near Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A gunman has opened fire on a music festival in Las Vegas, killing at least 58 people. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot dead. The investigation is ongoing. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
People head to buses as they leave the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at a country music festival on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. People who could not go to hotel-casinos that were closed after the shooting temporarily stayed at the center. The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the music festival, leaving at least 58 people dead and hundreds injured. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
A woman sits on a curb at the scene of Sunday night’s shooting outside of the Route 91 Harvest Festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Trisha Erickson, left, is greeted at the Long Beach Airport by family members after she and a friend from Fountain Valley arrive from Las Vegas on Monday, October 2, 2017. They both survived a mass shooting at a Jason Aldean concert which killed at least 58 people. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ryan Hultner of Fountain Valley greets his tearful wife Katy at the Long Beach Airport after she arrives back from Las Vegas. She and her friend escaped serious physical injury when a shooter opened fire at a Jason Aldean concert, killing at least 58 people. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Eric Paddock, left, brother of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, speaks to members of the media outside his home, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. Paddock told the Orlando Sentinel: “We are completely dumbfounded. We can’t understand what happened.” (AP Photo/John Raoux)
President Donald Trump makes a statement about the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 02: A Park Service employee lowers the U.S. flags on the grounds of the Washington Monument to half-staff, on October 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump ordered the flags on all federal buildings to fly at half-staff following the mass shooting that left more than 50 dead in Las Vegas. The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, allegedly opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on an outdoor music festival. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The damaged windows on the 32nd floor room that was used by the shooter in the Mandalay Hotel and the Route 91 festival venue (front) after a gunman killed more than 58 people and wounded more than 500 others when he opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 2, 2017. Police said the gunman, a 64-year-old local resident named as Stephen Paddock, had been killed after a SWAT team responded to reports of multiple gunfire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, a hotel-casino next to the concert venue. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
Drapes billow out of broken windows at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, on the Las Vegas Strip following a deadly shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas. A gunman was found dead inside a hotel room. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Police vehicles block a street after sunrise Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A mass shooting occurred late night Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
A woman hides inside the Sands Corporation plane hangar after a mass shooting in which dozens were killed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Al Powers/Invision/AP)
Police escort people to an evacuation bus after hiding inside the Sands Corporation plane hangar after a mass shooting in which dozens were killed at Route 91 Harvest Festival on early Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Al Powers/Invision/AP)
Metro Police conduct a search on people bringing supplies to the people taking refuge inside the Thomas & Mack following a mass shooting at the Route 91 music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Yasmina Chavez/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
People wait for their ride outside the Thomas & Mack center, which served as a refuge, following a mass shooting at the Route 91 music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Yasmina Chavez/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
People load into buses destined to different Strip Casinos following a mass shooting at the Route 91 music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center was opened as a place of refuge. (Yasmina Chavez/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Police vehicles block a street after sunrise Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A mass shooting occurred late night Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
Concertgoers head for shelter outside of the Route 91 Harvest Festival after a gunman opened fire at the festival on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Al Powers/Invsion/AP)
People arrive early Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, to Thomas & Mack center via bus after hiding inside the Sands Corporation plane hangar after a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest country festival in Las Vegas. (Al Powers/Invision/AP)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 02: A Park Service employee lowers the U.S. flags on the grounds of the Washington Monument to half-staff, on October 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump ordered the flags on all federal buildings to fly at half-staff following the mass shooting that left more than 50 dead in Las Vegas. The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, allegedly opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on an outdoor music festival. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Las Vegas police sweep through a convention center area during a lockdown Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, at the Tropicana Las Vegas following an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip. Multiple victims were transported to hospitals after a deadly shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
Police tape blocks off the home of Stephen Craig Paddock on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Mesquite, Nev. Paddock killed dozens and injured hundreds on Sunday night when he opened fire at an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas. Heavily armed police searched Paddock’s home Monday. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
“You think of anything where there is an assembly of people; that can be an open-air concert, it can be a tourist venue, it can be anything,” he said. “You can think of all of the open-air attractions we have in Los Angeles — all of them are vulnerable.”
Certain venues, such as airports, can be protected all the time at great cost and with significant disruption, Jenkins said. Temporary rings of security can be set up around events for short periods of time, such as during a rock concert, a New Year’s Eve celebration or a political convention.
“But we also have to be realistic and know that we cannot protect everything everywhere all the time,” he said. “If one is determined to kill and willing to kill indiscriminately, then any assembly of people anywhere is a target and we cannot stop that — so we just have to be realistic about what can be done.”
Los Angeles is “constantly refining our look at large events” ranging from sporting events to concerts to Academy Awards ceremonies, Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a news conference at the Central Library downtown Monday.
“This is the kind of thing that keeps you up late at night as a mayor,” he said.
While there’s no way to stop every attack, Garcetti said they do regularly add both visible and invisible sources of security using technology, plain clothes officers and resources from other agencies.
“We will continue to do everything we can to protect life in the city from these mass shootings, both in policy and in protection,” he said. “We can’t make that a hundred percent secure ever but even as we think forward to all the things that are coming here, all-star games, Super Bowls, Academy Awards etc. … we have a lot of experience in this.”
Any medium- to high-occupancy venue in the region that has no security or counter-measures in place are the most vulnerable to potential attacks, said Erroll Southers, director of homegrown violent extremism studies at USC’s Safe Communities Institute.
“If one is determined to kill and willing to kill indiscriminately, then any assembly of people anywhere is a target and we cannot stop that — so we just have to be realistic about what can be done.” — Brian Jenkins, an authority on
terrorism and security at the Santa Monica-based RAND Corp.
While visible security measures can certainly be a deterrent for attackers, tighter security would likely not have made much difference in the Las Vegas shooting because of the shooter’s elevated position, said Southers, who is also managing director of TAL Global Corp., an international security consulting firm.
“They probably did have screenings for weapons and prohibited items from going into the concert but you could not stop this man from doing what he did,” Southers said.
There are examples where security is known to have prevented or deterred attacks. In the deadly November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, for example, part of the plan involved suicide bombers entering into a large soccer stadium, where a major match was on. But because security guards were at the gate, the suicide bombers ended up detonating their bombs outside the stadium, which reduced the number of casualties, Jenkins said.
Similarly, USC’s Southers noted that white supremacist Buford O’Neal Furrow Jr. cased out multiple Jewish institutions — and ruled them out due to security measures — before walking into the North Valley Jewish Community Center in the San Fernando Valley on Aug. 10, 1999. At the community center, he fired 70 shots and wounded five people, including three young children and a teen camp counselor. He then left the center and proceeded to shoot and kill Filipino-American postal worker Joseph Ileto.
Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander, who chairs the council’s public safety committee and is a reserve police officer, called the Las Vegas tragedy “one that this country has never seen before.”
The City Council had a closed session a couple of weeks ago on preventive security measures and best practices for large-scale events that involved police and other city officials, he said.
“We’re very focused on it and have been and we’re fortunate we haven’t had an incident of any real magnitude here,” Englander said.
But the biggest message, he argued, is to the general public to stay alert and to speak up when something doesn’t seem right with a loved one or in one’s community.
“In term of mass events, large crowded events, while we have to be conscious and more cautious, we also can’t let this change us in our freedom and we can’t let it change our lives,” Englander said.
Staff writer Elizabeth Chou and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
