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Soldiers based in Swanton Morley rushed to help those injured in Las Vegas shooting
Police run to cover at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher) - Credit: AP
Soldiers based in Norfolk are thought to have been some of the first on the scene to help casualties at the mass shooting in Las Vegas.
People walk near the Las Vegas Strip shortly after sunrise Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill) - Credit: AP
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed 'a number of serving personnel' from 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, who are based in Swanton Morley, rushed to help the wounded.
It is believed three off-duty troopers, who were staying at a nearby hotel following training in the Nevada Desert, treated those injured and helped the emergency services.
The MoD confirmed in a statement that the three soldiers assisted with the immediate treatment of casualties at the scene of the shooting.
They later helped with the handover of the injured to the Las Vegas emergency services.
Soldiers from 1st The Queens Dragoon Guards, based in Swanton Morley, near Dereham, pictured in July during a training exercise ahead of a six-week deployment to California. Picture: GARRY FOX - Credit: Archant
A source told this newspaper that the soldiers would have completed battlefield casualty drills as part of their mandatory training, and added that, despite being on leave at the time, they would have 'wanted to do what they could'.
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Some 59 people have now been confirmed killed in the shooting, and 527 injured.
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The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, of Mesquite, Nevada, was found dead in a room in the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on Las Vegas Strip with as many as 17 firearms.
1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG) at the farewell parade in Dempsey Barracks, Paderborn and the QDG was presented with a Fahnenband. Photographer - Cpl Mark Webster RLC (Phot) - Credit: Cpl Mark Webster RLC (Phot)
Swat teams who stormed the gunman's room on the 32nd floor of the skyscraper found he had killed himself after shooting at revellers enjoying the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
An Army spokesman added: 'Our thoughts go out to those affected by this terrible act.'
The Queen's Dragoon Guards, known as the Welsh Cavalry, are one of the most experienced regiments in the British Army, after being deployed as a reconnaissance force during the Gulf War, Iraq War and, most recently, in Afghanistan.
