Tom Petty, the long-haired rocker whose famously nasal voice was behind some of rock’s greatest hits, was in the hospital Monday as unconfirmed reports of his death circulated.

The “Free Fallin’” singer, 66, was found unconscious and not breathing in his Malibu home, and was subsequently taken to the UCLA Santa Monica Hospital Sunday, where he « had no brain activity, » according to TMZ.

The gossip site reported that Petty was taken off life support on a do not resuscitate order from his family, and is currently « clinging to life. »

CBS News first reported that Petty had died, but the Los Angeles Police Department later said they had no information, and had no investigative role in the matter.

Stars react to rock icon Tom Petty’s death at 66

Throughout his prolific career, Petty notched three Grammy wins and 18 nominations, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

The Gainesville, Fla., native launched his indelible legacy at 17, when he quit high school to join the Florida band Mudcrutch.

In doing so, he escaped an abusive father; a charming, charismatic man with a violent drunk streak. Music, Petty told Men’s Journal in 2014, was a « safe place. »

Though the group soon disbanded after heading west to Los Angeles, Petty soon found a better venture in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, for which he served as lead singer and guitarist.

Happy birthday Tom Petty! Celebrate with 10 classic tracks

After the release of their self-titled debut in 1976, the band quickly found fame on the back of the success of the single “Breakdown,” which broke the Top 40.

That album also included the song “American Girl.” Though the track never cracked the charts, it cemented itself as an American classic, aranking 76^th on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.”

The band’s profile continued to rise with 1979’s “Damn the Torpedoes,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and included popular singles “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “Refugee.”

Throughout the ‘80s and into the ‘90s, Petty and his Heartbreakers churned out album after album, some, like 1981’s “Hard Promises,” achieving more success than others.

Tom Petty regrets displaying Confederate flag on ’80s tour

Their most recent effort, 2014’s “Hypnotic Eye,” scored the rockers their very first No. 1 album.

Petty flirted with a solo career throughout, releasing three albums on his own: “Full Moon Fever” (1989), “Wildflowers” (1994) and “Highway Companion” (2006).

He also found time to help meld together a supergroup in the Traveling Wilburys. The legendary lineup included Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison, all assuming different aliases under the last name “Wilbury.” The band – in which Petty was “Charlie T. Wilbury Jr” – released two albums to massive critical acclaim and commercial success.

Petty’s star hasn’t flicker as he’s aged; if anything, it’s grown brighter, as he admitted in 2014 that old age wasn’t going to slow him down.

“I run a pretty fast-paced life and I always like having a project to do,” he said in 2014. “I hate to be bored. That is the greatest sin I can commit. I’m sure it irritates a lot of people around me but I like to keep moving.”

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers wrapped up a lengthy North American tour just before his death with the bandmates he heaped praise upon in a 2014 interview.

“I don’t see that I have anything to offer as a solo artist that I couldn’t do within the group better,” he told the Sun. “We get along so well it’s embarrassing really. It’s a love fest!”

Petty is also considering releasing a deluxe version of « Wildflowers, » his 1994 solo album, this year, and treating fans to an intimate, acoustic-focused tour.

Tags: tom petty Send a Letter to the Editor Join the Conversation: facebook Tweet

While much remains unknown about the specific weapons Stephen Paddock fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, killing at least 58 people and injuring potentially hundreds more, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Monday that 16 firearms were found in the hotel room.

The sound of gunfire captured on videos recorded during the massacre indicates that Paddock used at least one automatic weapon, a type of firearm that is highly regulated in the United States though a fairly common find at gun shows and firing ranges, including one near Las Vegas that allows customers to shoot military-grade weapons.

It was unclear how Paddock would have acquired an automatic weapon, if he did use one. Those weapons can be legally owned if made before May 1986 and registered with the federal government, or owned by licensed dealers.

So far, at least one has been identified as an AK-47 type rifle, outfitted with a stand to steady it and improve accuracy, said people close to the ongoing probe. Lombardo said the weapons that have been recovered range in caliber from .223, which is associated with AR-15 style rifles, and .308, which is a caliber commonly used in hunting rifles. Lombardo was unsure if any of the weapons were automatic. Scopes were also recovered on the scene.

Agents with Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have yet to determine if Paddock modified mechanical components to a semiautomatic rifle to make it fully automatic, Lombardo said, which would be illegal. He also could have used a legal modification like an attachable crank to simulate automatic fire, which depresses the trigger faster than a finger and can be bought online for as little as $40.

It is important to note the distinction between a semiautomatic rifle and a fully automatic weapon. Semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15 patterned rifle — owned by millions of Americans and found on the scene after mass killings at San Bernardino, Calif.; Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn. — are the civilian variant of the military’s M-16 and M-4 rifles.

[Las Vegas shooting attack kills at least 58; more than 500 people injured]

One squeeze of the trigger means one round leaves the barrel, which physically limits the amount of fire to how quickly the operator can pull the trigger. AR-15 pattern rifles typically take 30-round magazines, which feeds ammunition into the weapon using a tension spring.

Some states, such as California, regulate the size of magazines, but Nevada does not. A trained shooter can easily remove one magazine from the weapon, load another from a tactical vest or pocket, and continue firing within seconds. There are higher-capacity magazines available, but they are prone to malfunctions and misfeeds.

An automatic weapon, by contrast, fires continuously as long as pressure is applied to the trigger and ammunition is available. While semiautomatic weapons are often incorrectly referred to as “machine guns,” an automatic weapon’s originally designed mechanical system — used to feed, eject and ready the next round — is what makes it a machine gun.

Semiautomatic weapons can also legally simulate automatic fire with “bump” modifications to the stock that reduces recoil and lets the shooter hold the weapon in a way that allows rapid fire, according to the Trace, a nonprofit website that examines gun violence in the United States.

Paddock’s choice of a firing position 400 yards from the stage at a high overlook suggests a plan of attack to fire into a densely packed area where accuracy would not be a top concern. That distance is near the 500-yard effective range for an M-4, but machine guns typically have longer barrels which extend range. A weapon such as the M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon, or SAW, is effective at 800 meters for individual targets.

The difference between the two is enormous from a lethality standpoint. On the battlefield, for instance, an M-4 rifle is a semiautomatic rifle. Training manuals suggest 12 to 15 rounds a minute for sustained firing, which would avert the risk of its barrel overheating.

[The history of the AR-15]

The SAW fires the same 5.56mm caliber ammunition with metal links attached to the rounds. Manuals suggest 100 rounds for sustained fire, though 200 rounds can be used in dangerous combat situations.

A typical scenario in Iraq and Afghanistan would involve a SAW gunner firing an entire starter belt of 100 linked rounds at the beginning of a firefight to quickly suppress the enemy. It would take only a few seconds to fire the belt.

The high number of firearms found at the hotel suggest a concern for overheating rifle barrels. The barrels can reach several hundred degrees, turning orange and even blue as rounds travel thousands of feet per second through them.

Automatic weapons such as the SAW and the larger M-240 have lever releases on the barrel, allowing one to be swapped for another using a oven-mitt-like glove.

The National Rifle Association says Nevada law allows the purchase of machine guns and silencers in compliance with federal law and regulations.

Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.

BARCELONA, Spain — The Latest on Catalonia’s plans to hold a referendum Sunday on breaking away from Spain (all times local):

11:30 a.m.

Catalonia’s government spokesman says that the disputed independence referendum is underway in 73 percent of about 6,000 polling stations despite a police crackdown to try to halt the vote and technological obstacles.

Jordi Turull called for Catalans to remain calm and patient but to defend “in a civic and peaceful manner” their right to vote after riot police blocked voting in some polling centers and confiscated ballot boxes amid clashes with protesting voters. Police have also fired rubber projectiles at protesters in Barcelona.

Turull said that “the world has seen the violence of the Spanish state,” calling actions by the police as “repression that is a reminder of the Franco era” in reference to Spain’s dictatorship from 1939-1975.

Turull said the Spanish government’s representative in Catalonia, Enric Millo, should resign over the handling of the crackdown.

___

11:10 a.m.

Spanish riot police have fired rubber projectiles at protesters outside a Barcelona polling station during Catalonia’s disputed independence referendum. Several people have been wounded.

The officers fired the projectiles while trying to clear protesters who were trying to impede National Police cars from leaving after police confiscated ballot boxes from the voting center.

An AP photographer witnessed how several people had been injured during the scuffles outside Barcelona’s Rius i Taule school, where some voters had cast ballots before police arrived.

Manuel Conedeminas, a 48-year-old IT manager who tried to block police from driving away with the ballot boxes, said agents had kicked them before using their batons and firing the projectiles, which were ball-shaped.

___

10:45 a.m.

Several members of the Catalan regional government cast their ballots in a banned referendum on independence from Spain that became messy as riot police moved Sunday to halt voting in several polling centers.

Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont voted in Cornella de Terri, near the northern city of Girona, after police took over control of the original polling center where he was due to appear, his spokesman Joan Maria Pique told The Associated Press.

Puigdemont has spearheaded the separatist politicians’ push to go ahead with the vote, despite a Constitutional Court suspension and fierce opposition by central authorities.

Regional vice president Oriol Junqueras also found his designated polling station taken over by police and moved to a different location where he eventually voted, regional broadcaster TV3 said.

___

10:25 a.m.

Electoral volunteers at polling centers in Catalonia’s disputed referendum say they are unable to access census data because the website that hosted it is down, while internet service has been cut in some of the stations.

Technicians are working to set up new domains for the website where electoral managers need to register polling data, said Jordi Sole, a 48-year-old historian who displayed an accreditation with the regional government’s logo and said that was at the Collaso high school in Barcelona to assist with the voting.

Guillem Castillo, an 18-year-old engineering student designated as an electoral official there, said technical problems halted the voting shortly after it opened.

Spanish media reported similar problems with internet in polling centers across Catalonia.

___

10:10 a.m.

Spanish riot police have forcefully removed a few hundred would-be voters from a polling station at a school in Barcelona.

Daniel Riano was inside when the police pushed aside a large group gathered outside busted in the Estela school’s front door.

The 54-year-old Riano said that “we were waiting inside to vote when the National Police used force to enter, they used a mace to break in the glass door and they took everything.”

He said that “one policeman put me in a headlock to drag me out, while I was holding my wife’s hand. It was incredible. They didn’t give any warning.”

Ferran Miralles said a crowd scuffled with police outside as they formed a tight perimeter around the door. Miralles said “they were very aggressive. They pushed me out of the way.”

Elsewhere in Barcelona, police have detained several people outside the Treball voting center amid scuffles on the street. Officers dragged some of the protesters away and detained them.

___

9:30 a.m.

Spanish riot police have smashed their way into a polling station in Catalonia where the regional leader was expected to show up to vote in the disputed independence referendum.

Civil Guard riot police with shields have used a hammer to smash the glass of the front door of the voting center and lock cutters to force their way in. Scuffles erupted outside between police and people waiting to vote at the polling center in Sant Julia de Ramis, near the Catalan city of Girona.

There were no immediate reports of injuries. Television footage showed police using batons to disperse the crowds gathered outside the local sports center.

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was scheduled to vote in the Sant Julia de Ramis sports center at 9.30 a.m. (0730 GMT; 3:30 a.m. EDT).

Puigdemont has spearheaded the separatist politicians’ push to go ahead with the vote, despite a Constitutional Court suspension and fierce opposition by central authorities.

___

9 a.m.

Polling has begun in a banned referendum on Catalonia’s independence, with the first voters casting ballots amid cheers in some of the designated polling stations.

Parents, children and activist volunteers had occupied some of the 2,315 schools and other facilities to avoid closure from police acting on court orders.

Spain’s Constitutional Court ordered the vote to be suspended and central authorities say it’s illegal. Regional separatist leaders have pledged to hold it anyway, promising to declare independence if the “yes” side wins, and have called on 5.3 million eligible voters to cast ballots.

___

8:30 a.m.

Catalan officials say that voters will be allowed to cast ballots at any polling station, rather than a designated one as previously announced, as many locations have been sealed off by police.

Regional government spokesman Jordi Turull says the last-minute system will allow the 5.3 million eligible voters to cast a ballot and avoid repeated votes.

Turull says that Catalans will be able to vote with ballots printed at home if needed, announcing that authorities had printed new ones after 5 million paper ballots were confiscated by police. He also said that a group of “academics and professionals” would serve as election observers.

The electoral board appointed by the regional parliament was disbanded last week to avoid hefty fines by Spain’s Constitutional Court.

___

8:10 a.m.

Ballot boxes began arriving at some polling stations for a disputed referendum on Catalonia’s split from Spain that is being met with fierce opposition from Spanish authorities.

Police acting on court orders have been trying to confiscate ballot boxes for weeks as the crackdown to halt the vote intensified.

On Friday, officials unveiled a prototype of the plastic ballot boxes with a logo of the regional government.

Spain’s Constitutional Court ordered the vote to be suspended and central authorities say it’s illegal. Hopeful voters have been occupying out some of the designated voting stations to avoid police taking control and closing them off.

___

6.25 a.m.

Some of the Catalans who are defying court orders to vote in a disputed referendum on their region’s secession from Spain say they want to send a strong message of displeasure with central authorities.

Activist Augsti Gil says there were no ballots or ballot boxes in Barcelona’s Joan Fuster high school where more than a hundred people have joined another hundred who spent the night occupying the designated polling station.

Gil says they expect materials to arrive Sunday morning ahead of the 9 a.m. opening of polls.

Joaquim Bosch, a 73 year-old retiree at Princep de Viana high school, where a crowd of 20 people was growing says he is uneasy about a possible police response to the crowds.

Bosch says: “I have come to vote to defend the rights of my country, which is Catalonia.”

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Early in his administration, President Trump signed a directive outlining a strategy of pressure against North Korea that involved actions across a broad spectrum of government agencies and led to the use of military cyber-capabilities, according to U.S. officials.

As part of the campaign, U.S. Cyber Command targeted hackers in North Korea’s military spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, by barraging their computer servers with traffic that choked off Internet access.

Trump’s directive, a senior administration official said, also included instructions to diplomats and officials to bring up North Korea in virtually every conversation with foreign interlocutors and urge them to sever all ties with Pyongyang. Those conversations have had significant success, particularly in recent weeks as North Korea has tested another nuclear weapon and ballistic missiles, officials said.

[The message behind the murder: Assassination sheds light on North Korea’s chemical arsenal]

So pervasive is the diplomatic campaign that some governments have found themselves scrambling to find any ties with North Korea. When Vice President Pence called on one country to break relations during a recent overseas visit, officials there reminded him that they never had relations with Pyongyang. Pence then told them, to their own surprise, that they had $2 million in trade with North Korea. Foreign officials, who asked that their country not be identified, described the exchange.

The directive also instructed the Treasury Department to outline an escalating set of sanctions against North Korean entities and individuals, and foreigners who dealt with them. Those instructions are reflected in a steady stream of U.S. and international sanctions in recent months.

The directive was not made public at the time it was signed, following a policy review in March, because “we were providing every opportunity as a new administration to North Korea to sit down and talk, to take a different approach,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door policy decisions.

“We made clear the door was open for talks before the president had even signed off on this strategy, but North Korea continued to launch missiles, continued to kidnap Americans to keep as hostages . . . all the things they did when we were early in the administration and sending signals that the door was open to talks.”

That door remains open, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Saturday in Beijing. Speaking to reporters following talks with Chinese officials, Tillerson for the first time acknowledged that the United States was in direct communication with North Korea.

“We are probing, so stay tuned,” he said. “We ask, ‘Would you like to talk?’ We have lines of communications to Pyongyang. We’re not in a dark situation, a blackout. We have a couple, three, channels open. . . . We can talk to them; we do talk to them.”

[The secret to Kim’s success? Some experts see Russian echoes in missile advances]

In Washington, however, officials quickly played down any idea that negotiations were underway or that anything had yet come of the talks. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert issued a statement saying that “North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization.”

The senior administration official said it would be wrong to “read too much into” Tillerson’s remarks. “The U.S. has always maintained some kind of channel, kept some channel open even in the darkest days of previous administrations.”

Those channels include conversations between the State Department’s special representative for North Korea, Joseph Yun, and Pak Song Il, a senior member of Pyongyang’s delegation to the United Nations. They have met several times this year to discuss American prisoners being held by North Korea, among other matters. Other contacts have taken place through the “track two” process, which regularly brings together nongovernmental U.S. experts — and occasionally U.S. officials — and North Korean officials.

Tillerson’s remarks Saturday came after a day of meetings with top Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, which saw both sides strike a careful, conciliatory tone following a new North Korean nuclear test and missile launches, and weeks of insults and threats between Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

In brief formal statements before their meetings, Chinese leaders — who have repeatedly called for restraint — did not mention North Korea. Instead, they tried to keep the focus on Trump’s upcoming Asia visit, which Xi promised would be a “special, wonderful and successful” event.

The Cyber Command operation, which was due to end Saturday, was part of the overall campaign set in motion many months ago. The effects were temporary and not destructive, officials said. Nonetheless, some North Korean hackers griped that lack of access to the Internet was interfering with their work, according to another U.S. official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a secret operation.

Cyber Command and the White House had no comment. But the senior administration official said, “What I can tell you is that North Korea has itself been guilty of cyberattacks, and we are going to take appropriate measures to defend our networks and systems.”

Eric Rosenbach, who led the Pentagon’s cyber-efforts as assistant secretary of defense in the Obama administration, said the operation “could have the advantage of signaling to the North Koreans a more aggressive posture. However, there’s accompanying risk of an escalation and a North Korean cyber-counterattack.”

Rosenbach, now co-director of the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, said that he was not aware of the actual operation but that if it is “truly a military operation,” he sees no reason to hide it. “The Department of Defense should probably own it,” he said.

Aaron Hughes, a former senior cyber-official in the Obama administration, said he, too, was not aware of the actual operation. But “if I was still in my [Pentagon] seat, I would actively be advocating we do these types of things. . . . We should be using all elements of national power to deter and message the North Koreans, to include our military, including cyber,” Hughes said.

Others said they would be cautious about using even minor ­cyber-capabilities against North Korea and doing it openly because of the risk of retaliation.

“I wonder what the disruptive payoff is that we’re getting that’s worth even a marginal extra chance of nuclear war?” said Jason Healey, a former military ­cyber-operator and now a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Rauhala reported from Beijing.