In a tweet on Tuesday morning, country singer Jason Aldean shared his thoughts on the deadly shooting in Las Vegas that began during his performance at the Route 91 festival, saying, "Something has changed in this country."
Over the last 24 hrs I have gone through lots of emotions... #Stopthehate #PrayForLasVegas
At least 59 people were killed and at least 527 were injured in the shooting on the Las Vegas Strip late Sunday night that's being called the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.
The shooter, Stephen Paddock, opened fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel room in the Mandalay Bay, targeting the 22,000-person outdoor concert where Aldean was performing.
The country singer had posted a brief message immediately after the shooting, but in Tuesday's statement, he spoke at length about what he felt in the aftermath of the incident.
His statement read:
Over the last 24 hours I have gone through lots of emotions. Scared, Anger, Heartache, Compassion and many others. I truely dont understand why a person would want to take the life of another. Something has changed in this country and in this world lately that is scary to see. This world is becoming the kind of place I am afraid to raise my children in. At the end of the day we arent Democrats or Republicans, Whites or Blacks, Men or Women. We are all humans and we are all Americans and its time to start acting like it and stand together as ONE! That is the only way we will ever get this Country to be better than it has ever been, but we have a long way to go and we have to start now. My heart aches for the Victims and their families of this Senseless act. I am so sorry for the hurt and pain everyone is feeling right now and there are no words i can say to take that pain away. Just know u all are in my heart and my prayers as we all go through this together. Time to come together and stop the hate! #stopthehate #prayforlasvegas
Later Tuesday afternoon, Aldean announced he was canceling his tour stops for the forthcoming weekend, on Oct. 6, 7, and 8 in California, "out of respect for the victims, their families and our fans." The tour will resume Oct. 12 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"It has been an emotional time for everyone involved this week, so we plan to take some time to mourn the ones we have lost and be close with our family and friends," Aldean said in a statement. "Our first time back onstage will be a very tough and emotional thing for us, but we will all get through it together and honor the people we lost by doing the only thing we know how to do - play our songs for them. ... I want to say thank you for the outpouring of love from my friends and fans we have received over the last couple days. You guys have no idea how much you have helped get us through this tough time."