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ISIS has claimed responsibility for a shooting that left at least 50 people dead and more than 400 others injured at a packed music festival in Las Vegas.

In a statement via its Amaq news agency, the terror group said the gunman, identified by police as Stephen Paddock, was a "soldier of the Islamic State".

It also claimed he had converted to Islam a few months ago - and had carried out the deadly attack "in response to calls to target states of the coalition".

Despite the extremist militant group's claims, police had told reporters earlier today that the massacre was not believed to be an act of terrorism.

They said they had no information about Paddock's motive, he had no criminal record and was not believed to be connected to any militant group.

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(Image: Getty Images North America) (Image: Getty Images North America) (Image: Google Maps)

Referring to the US-led coalition fighting ISIS in the Middle East, Amaq's statement read: "The Las Vegas attack was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried it out in response to calls to target states of the coalition."

"The Las Vegas attacker converted to Islam a few months ago," it added.

However, two senior U.S. officials said there was no evidence that the attacker who gunned down festival-goers was tied to any international militant group.

One of the two U.S. officials discounted ISIS's claim of responsibility.

They said there was reason to believe that the suspect - believed to be a granddad - had a history of psychological problems.

The statement comes after the first picture of Paddock emerged, hours after the innocent revellers were shot at the Route 91 Harvest music festival.

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(Image: @adamhousley/Twitter) (Image: Getty Images North America)

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Police say the 64-year-old, from Nevada, killed himself before they stormed his room on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

As well as the 50 people tragically confirmed dead, around 406 others have been left injured after the suspect apparently opened fire from a balcony.

Paddock is believed to have used a high-powered assault rifle to blast his victims at the end of a performance by country music star Jason Aldean.

Police responded to the shooting at about 10pm local time.

Video clips posted online captured what sounded like automatic weapons as panicked concert-goers fled and dropped to the ground, screaming.

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Witnesses later described how they saw victims fleeing as shots rained down. Some later huddled in the basement of the nearby Tropicana hotel-casino.

Pictures of the scene showed many victims lying on the ground, covered in blood. Others captured people, both young and old, running for their lives.

After quickly arriving at the scene, some police officers were seen taking cover behind their vehicles, while others carrying assault rifles ran into the hotel.

Paddock, 64, was found dead in his room, with as many as 10 firearms.

Police said the suspect is believed to have acted alone.

Officers had earlier launched a search for a female "associate" called Marilou Danley - reportedly Paddock's roommate - in relation to the shooting.

(Image: Twitter)

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They later located Ms Danley and said she was no longer a "person of interest".

Speaking of the massacre today, Alden, the headlining star on the last night of the three-day music festival, described it as "beyond horrific".

The US singer ran from the stage in Las Vegas as the gunshots rang out.

He later shared a picture of the city's famous Strip on Instagram, with the words Pray For Las Vegas written over the top.

(Image: joshdcaplan/Twitter)

He captioned it: "Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe.

"My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight.

"It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate."

The tragedy is the worst ever mass shooting in modern US history.