"I'm inside the Mandalay now on the 31st floor - I can hear the automatic fire coming from one floor ahead, one floor above us."
"Be advised it is automatic fire, fully automatic fire from an elevated position, take cover."
"This is correct, it's automatic fire, I'm right below it."
And so the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history unfolded at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, where gunman Stephen Paddock killed 59 and injured 527 by spraying bullets at a crowd of more than 22,000 attending a country music festival.
By the time swat teams stormed the gunman's hotel room on the 32nd floor, he was already dead surrounded by an arsenal of rifles which officials said had been modified to make them automatic.
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The emergency services audio, provided by Broadcastify.com, captures officers responding to the horrific incident as they try to help the injured and put an end to the situation.
The popping sound of the automatic rifle can chillingly be heard in the background at one point.
Emergency units are advised not to approach from northbound because "he's shooting this way ... it's a horrible cover spot," an officer says.
Another describes how he is dealing with an injured person with "a gunshot wound to the leg," while another at the scene has "a gunshot wound to the mouth".
There is still no known motive for the attack.
