B.C. premier John Horgan has issued a statement on a mass shooting in Las Vegas that claimed more than 50 lives.

"The senseless acts of violence in Las Vegas are horrifying and incomprehensible," he said in an October 2 media release. "Our hearts are with all those affected by last night's shooting."

It is stated there that one British Columbian has been confirmed killed in the attack.

"Jordan McIldoon of Maple Ridge was among those who lost their lives. He was 23 years old. The flags at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria and Provincial Government Buildings in Maple Ridge will be dropped to half-mast to honour him," Horgan said.

"To Jordan's family, and the family and friends of all those who have lost their lives, we offer our condolences and support."

The premier also expressed support for Las Vegas first responders.

"When dark acts seek to shake our faith in humanity, we look to those who have come forward to help," Horgan said. "Their selfless acts of heroism are what build the strong and caring communities we all want to be a part of."

The shooting occurred in Las Vegas late Sunday night (October 1). A Nevada man fired into a crowd of some 22,000 people who had gathered at a country-music festival. The gunman was more than 500 metres away from the event, firing from a 32nd-storey room in the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel.

In addition to McIldoon, other Canadians have been confirmed killed or injured in the attack. Jessica Klymchuk of Edmonton died of a gunshot wound. Two women from Manitoba, Jody Ansell and Jan Lambourne, were taken to hospital and are still being treated for their injuries.

The incident is one of the deadliest U.S. mass shootings on record but far from unprecedented.

In June 2016, 49 people were killed in a shooting in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida. In December 2015, 14 people were killed in a shooting in San Bernardino, California. And in December 2012, an attack on an elementary school left 27 people dead, most of them children between the ages of six and seven years old.

A list of select mass shootings compiled by the New York Times includes more than 25 similar incidents that occurred in the past 10 years. Using different criteria, another list of mass shootings compiled by the Gun Violence Archive and distributed by the Guardian newspaper details more than 1,500 incidents it categorizes as mass shootings that have occurred in just the past five years.

Today (October 2) U.S. president Donald Trump said via a spokesperson that in the wake of the October 1 shooting in Las Vegas, the White House will not initiate a debate about gun control.

"That's not the place that we're in at this moment," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters in Washington D.C.