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UNBREAKABLEVEGAS BY THE SUNDAY STAFF

T he glow of the Las Vegas Strip is different. Candles flicker beneath the marquees, their boisterous messages replaced with one thought:

We’ve been there for you during the good times. Thank you for being there for us now. #VegasStrong On Oct. 1, Stephen Craig Paddock smashed through the window

of his hotel room on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay, overlooking the grounds of the Route 91 Harvest music festival. He could prob-ably hear Jason Aldean’s voice before he opened fire on the crowd

of 22,000 watching the singer close the show just after 10 p.m. Fireworks, many thought, until bodies started dropping. Paddock unleashed more than a dozen volleys over roughly 10 minutes be-

fore taking his own life under pressure from hotel security and Metro Police. His cache of guns had been modified for virtually automatic action so he could do as much damage as possible.

Survivors describe chaos, terror and carnage, captured in shaky cell-phone videos and haunting pictures from photographers caught in the fray. One shared by freelancer David Becker shows three bodies heaped among plastic cups and beer cans, a woman’s bare legs streaked with blood.

When the shooting stopped, medical facilities were overrun. Almost 500 people were injured, and Sunrise Hospital took more than 200. Someone posted a photo of the hospital’s hallway, floor tiles covered in blood smears, gloves and other supplies abandoned in the crush of critical patients.

Other images from the horrific night tell stories of courage and decency. People fleeing the gunfire helped each other hop fences or tear them down so dozens more could follow. Some held pressure on wounds, shielding total strangers from the hail of bullets. First responders, both in the crowd and on duty, ran toward the danger, and police teams quickly contained it. Within a few hours, thousands of locals had lined up to give blood or showed up to vol-unteer wherever they were needed.

Still, at a time when the Strip should have been buzzing with life, the streets were empty.

The lights stayed on in the festival grounds for days as officials inves-tigated and recovered bodies. And Mandalay Bay’s façade of molten gold stood marred by a busted window on a room equipped for war. One man killed 58 people and shattered the lives of countless others.

No motive has been revealed.“How dare this rotten soul go ahead and do this to innocent people,”

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said in a TV interview days after the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.

Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who grew up in Las Vegas, used his monologue to share his heartbreak, and anger over gun laws.

“It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to throw up, or give up,” he said. “It’s too much to even process. All these devastated families who now have to live with this pain forever because one person with a violent and insane voice in his head managed to stockpile a collection of high-powered rifles and used them to shoot people.”

So a city built for joy is wrapped in grief, even as positive action un-folds from the great halls of churches to the patios of bars. Shaken to its core, the community has responded with humanity and grit, commit-ted to the Las Vegas idea.

As veteran Elvis impersonator Russ Powell said Wednesday after-noon on Fremont Street, Las Vegas makes people happy, and it won’t stop. –Erin Ryan

STORIES OF

HEROISM AND

RESILIENCE IN THE

FACE OF TRAGEDY

BASE MAP: DIGITALGLOBE/GOOGLE

L A S V E G A S B L V D . S .

M A N D A L A Y B A Y R O A D

G I L E S S T .

With a clear field of fire from an elevated vantage point, an arsenal of semiautomatic weapons, a huge cache of ammo and three cameras trained outside his door to alert him to any approaching law enforcement officers, Stephen Paddock was in position to inflict maximum harm Sunday on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay. ¶

“The fact that he had the type of weaponry and the amount of weaponry in that room, it was preplanned extensively,” Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. “I’m pretty sure he evaluated everything that he did in his actions, which is troublesome.”

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MECHANICS OF THE SCENE

L U X O R

M A I N S T A G E

E X C A L I B U R

R O U T E 9 1H A R V E S T F E S T I V A L

23 GUNS found in Paddock’s room, including a pistol. Twelve were fitted with bump-stock devices — aftermarket products that allow semiautomatic rifles to be fired like fully automatic ones.

(President Donald Trump says his administration is considering whether bump-stock devices should be banned. The National Rifle Association has said the devices should be “subject to additional regulations.” And House Speaker Paul Ryan says a ban is “clearly something we need to look into.”)

Sheriff Joe Lombardo said “well in excess of several thousand rounds” of unfired ammunition also was found.

90 SHOTS IN 10 SECONDS Paddock’s rate of fire, as reported by the New York Times after analyzing video from the incident.

500 YARDS

Stephen Paddock checks in to his room on the 32nd floor of Mandalay

Bay, across from the event field. Over the next three days, he stockpiles 23

weapons and, before he starts shoot-ing, sets up two surveillance cameras in the corridor outside his room and

another in the door’s peephole.

9:40 p.m. Route 91 Harvest headliner Jason Aldean takes the stage as the final performer of the three-day music festival.

10:05 p.m. First shots are fired, as deter-mined later by body-camera footage.

10:08 p.m. Dispatchers receive the first report of gunshots. Simultaneously, Clark County fire-fighters responding to a call for service near the festival grounds hear the shots. (They will be the first of about 180 firefighters who respond to the scene.) Another Metro officer radios in 30 seconds after the initial call, saying the shots are coming from Mandalay Bay.

10:10 p.m. Officers re-port casual-ties by radio, including “people down on stage left.”

10:12 p.m. Officers arrive on the 31st floor. One reports by radio that he can hear what sounds like automatic gunfire a floor above him. (Lombardo will later say Mandalay Bay security played an instrumental role in help-ing Metro officers locate gunman Stephen Paddock’s room, by passing along reports from guests in nearby rooms.)

SEPTEMBER 28 OCTOBER 1

Paddock bought 33 guns

in the past 12 months, according to multiple media

reports.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

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14OCT. 8-OCT. 14

The impact radius of the Las Vegas massacre can’t be measured. One person took dozens of lives and directly shook many thousands more, and the pain, fear and sense of loss inescapably ripple to all who knew

the victims and all who feel for them. When the rest of the world moves on, as it must, Las Vegans will be left to

heal and move forward. Before that can happen, it’s vital to recognize and also accept how we’ve been affected. You might think you have no right to struggle, given how removed you might be from the horror of what happened at the festival grounds. But psychologists, grief counselors and health professionals say post-traumatic stress can happen on the community level.

Psychologist Scott Poland, a faculty member at Nova Southeast-ern University, says the mental-health response to a mass killing is basically psychological triage. Poland has provided counseling in connection to 15 school shootings, including Columbine, so he has seen the acute effects on survivors. “Not too long after tragedies, somebody is told something like this: ‘Oh, you should be over that by now, I’m tired of hearing you talk about this,’ ” Poland said. “And the reality is that every person who was at that concert (in Las Vegas) has a story to tell.” —YG

A s residents golfed and took their walks as usual inside the quiet Mesquite neighborhood, police were serving a search warrant on the home of a mass murderer.

The primary residence of 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock contained 19 guns, with another seven found in his Reno home and 23 in his Mandalay Bay hotel room. Paddock’s motive for firing on the Route 91 Harvest festival — ultimately killing 58

people and wounding hundreds before fatally shooting himself — is unknown.

While Paddock didn’t have much contact with neighbors, they described him as a nice, ordinary man. Police say he was living in Mesquite with his girl-friend, Marilou Danley, who had report-edly worked at the Atlantis Casino in Reno years ago.

After authorities questioned Danley, her attorney released this statement Oct. 4: “I knew Stephen Paddock as a kind, caring, quiet man. He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of that I understood in any way to be a warning that something hor-rible like this was going to happen.”

The Nevada secretary of state’s office had no past or present record of Pad-

dock as a registered voter. He has no criminal history.“No affiliation, no religion, no politics. He never cared about

any of that stuff,” his brother, Eric Paddock, told reporters.“There’s absolutely no way I could conceive that my brother

would shoot a bunch of people that he didn’t know,” he told CNN, noting that he didn’t know of any mental illness issues. “Some-thing just incredibly wrong happened to my brother.”

Ken Gray, a lecturer at the University of New Haven and for-mer FBI special agent, said mass shootings generally fit nine categories: school shootings, church shootings, jealous rage, family rage, disgruntled employees (current or former), ar-rest-related shootings, robberies gone bad, terrorism or men-tal illness.

“Rage and/or depression may be the driving factor. Some of these events may be carried out by psychopaths,” he said, explaining that both personality types can exhibit violent or dangerous behavior. He pointed to the Columbine High School shooters: One was a psychopath, the other was depressive and suicidal. “Many mass shootings end up in suicide,” Gray said.

Experts say Paddock may have been trying to achieve infamy, though that perspective may change as the investigation unfolds. — Yvonne Gonzalez

10:15 p.m. More fire-fighters and paramed-ics arrive at the scene as the last shots are fired by the suspect. Also, McCarran Inter-national Airport closes air traffic on the two runways closest to the Strip, as officials discovered some des-perate festivalgoers had broken through a fence and fled onto the tarmac.

10:16 p.m. Reports of casual-ties stream in. “Multiple (gun-shot wounds) in chest, legs, femoral arteries,” one officer says. Another reports being pinned down against a wall on the festival grounds with dozens of people. (Stories will emerge about festivalgo-ers helping each other patch wounds, carry others to safety and drive them to hospitals. Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center will take in more than 200 of close to 500 injured.)

10:17 p.m. The first two Metro officers arrive on the 32nd floor. (Metro was en route to the floor when they learned Paddock’s room number. Responding to a call about a door ajar, Mandalay Bay security officer Jesus Campos had approached and been shot through Paddock’s door. He radioed hotel dispatch, which informed the Metro team of the shooter’s location.)

10:26-10:30 p.m. Eight additional Metro officers ar-rive on the 32nd floor. Not hearing gunfire, they be-gin to move sys-tematically down the hallway.

10:38 p.m. Metro an-nounces on Twitter that it is investigat-ing reports of an active shooter near/around Man-dalay Bay, its first public acknowl-edgement of the incident.

11:15 p.m.All air traffic at McCarran International Airport is halted, with some flights turned away.

11:20 p.m.Officers use an explo-sive breach device to enter Pad-dock’s room. Officers see him on the ground, dead from a self-inflicted gun-shot wound.

11:27 p.m.Officers breach a door to an interior room in the suite but find no one.

11:43 p.m.The first victim count related to the shoot-ing reports at least two dead and 24 injured.

12:05 a.m.Interstate 15 is closed from Blue Diamond Road to Charleston Boulevard.

1:32 a.m.Sheriff Joe Lombardo announces that the victim count is at least 20 dead and 100 injured.

1:55 a.m. Full opera-tions resume at McCarran after nearly two dozen flights were diverted. (About 300 people who’d made their way onto airport grounds were bused to the Thomas & Mack Center.)

2 a.m. I-15 reopens, with off-ramps to Las Vegas Boulevard closed.

3:36 a.m.Lombardo updates the victim count to at least 50 dead and at least 200 injured.

5:54 a.m.Metro an-nounces the number of injured is more than 400, with the death toll holding.

8:38 a.m. The number of dead is updated to 58 (plus the shooter), and the wounded to 515. (That number is reduced to 489 after it’s discovered some victims were double-counted.)

2:26 a.m.Metro identifies Stephen Paddock as the shooter.

OCTOBER 1 OCTOBER 2

HOW MASS KILLINGS AFFECT COMMUNITIES CIRCLES OF RISK

Poland sees trauma-related risk fit-ting into three overlapping circles,

with the center accounting for those most vulnerable. “From a psy-

chological standpoint, here’s how we might figure out who are the

20 percent that we might need to have really long-term help for,” he said. One circle represents people

who were at or near the concert, the second accounts for people

who maybe weren’t there but knew someone who was, and

the third group is made up of those who were already

dealing with previous, unrelated traumas.

“That’s how I try to ap-proach every situation in terms of geographic proximity, psychosocial

proximity, and trauma history,” he said.

60-20-20Poland said this rule illustrates who may be most at risk of psychological issues after mass killings. “Sixty percent of us, no matter how staggering the trag-edy, we’re going to be OK because of our faith, our family, our support system, our problem-solving skills, etc.,” he said. “Twenty percent will have minor problems. Unfortunately, we would have to predict 20 per-cent would have major problems.” Such problems range from substance abuse and reckless behavior to depression, thoughts or attempts at self-harm, or even death.

Individuals who were at or near

the event

Individuals who may or may not

have been present but know someone

who was

Individuals dealing with previous unrelated

trauma HIGHEST-RISK: INDIVIDUALS WHO EXPERIENCED ALL THREE FACTORS

LASVEGAS|| SHOOTING

EXPLORING THE IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION: WHY?The 1977 Cal State Northridge graduate was a mail carrier in the ’70s, worked as an Internal Revenue Service Agent in the ’80s, then took a job in defense auditing before becoming a defense contractor, according to the Associated Press. Paddock was twice divorced, a gam-bler who reportedly spent as much as $10,000 in a day at casinos.

On Oct. 5, a memorial displays 58 crosses built by Greg Zanis at the Welcome to

Fabulous Las Vegas sign. Each cross bears the name of a victim killed in the shooting.

(MIKAYLA WHITMORE/STAFF)

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Fully automatic weapons have been federally banned for civilian use since 1986 with the implementation of the Firearm Owners Protection Act. The bill, signed

by President Ronald Reagan, prohibited the sale of machine guns manufactured after the date of enactment of the law.

Machine guns manufactured before that date (May 19, 1986), can still be purchased in some states, including Nevada, but must be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire-arms and Explosives (ATF).

The ATF regulations for machine gun ownership are much stricter than those for general gun ownership, and because these guns are no longer produced for civilians, they tend to attract collectors. Further, it’s illegal to make new replacement parts for these weapons — with no exceptions.

But Oct. 1, as rapid barrages of gunfire rang out over the Strip, many people confronted the unthinkable — could that be a fully automatic rifle?

As of press time, authorities had not ruled out the use or presence of a fully automatic weapon in Stephen Paddock’s arsenal. However, they confirmed that bump stocks were used to modify 12 legal semiautomatic rifles — enabling them to unleash ammunition as quickly as a newly manufactured ma-chine gun could.

Neither fully automatic rifles nor such modified semiau-tomatic rifles had been used in any U.S. mass shooting on re-cord. In Orlando, Fla.; Newtown, Conn.; and Aurora, Colo., the shooters used unmodified semiautomatic weapons.

The general price point for a single, legally obtained and reg-istered machine gun ranges from $10,000 to $50,000. The start-ing price for semiautomatic rifles, such as AR-15s and AK-47s, can be as low as $600, and bump stocks can cost between $50 and a few hundred dollars.

In the wake of the tragedy, bump stocks — once relatively obscure — have soared into public view, and politicians are re-sponding. On Oct. 4, Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas and the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee, called for a ban on bump stocks. The same day, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation banning modifications on semiautomat-ic weapons that allow the weapon to act as a fully automatic. Dozens of other lawmakers in both parties expressed solidarity in their concerns over the devices.

In the long-fought battle between parties staunchly divided on gun control laws, implementing regulations on bump stocks may be one of the first issues with unilateral support. On Oct. 5, the National Rifle Association spoke out against the device,

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL, R-KY.n D.C. office202-224-2541317 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510Submit your message online: mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form

HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN, R-WIS. n D.C. office202-225-0600H-232 The Capitol, Washington, D.C. 20515 Submit your message online: speaker.gov/contact

KILLER SKIRTED BAN ON FULLY AUTOMATIC WEAPONS

HOW TO CONTACT YOUR LAWMAKERSn Call: Calling your representative is generally considered the best, most effective option. Call during business hours to speak directly with a staffer, or you can leave a voicemail if prompted. Be clear, concise and personal with your message. Include your full name, which district/city you live in, your exact con-cerns and the actions you would like to see taken.

n Write a letter: Similar to calling, writ-ing a letter is a more personal method of communication. Start the letter formally, “Dear Senator/Representative …,” and keep your message to a few, concise paragraphs. The more specific informa-tion you use, the better.

n Email/social media: Email and social media can be effective methods to speak to politicians, especially when you’re reaching out regularly and/or about a major issue, such as the shooting.

If you’d like to reach out to lawmakers to express your opinion about restric-tions on bump stocks, silencers/sup-pressors, high-capacity magazines or gun regulation in general, there are a few options for how to do so.

U.S. SEN. DEAN HELLER, R-NEV.n Las Vegas office702-388-66058930 W. Sunset Road, Suite 230, Las Vegas NV 89148n D.C. office202-224-6244 324 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510Submit your message online: heller.senate.gov/public/contact-form

U.S. SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, D-NEV.n Las Vegas office702-388-5020 333 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Suite 8016, Las Vegas NV 89101n D.C. office 202-224-3542204 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510Submit your message online: cortezmasto.senate.gov/contact/connect

REP. DINA TITUS, D-NEV. (DISTRICT 1))n Las Vegas office702-220-9823495 S. Main St., Third floor, Las Vegas NV 89101n D.C. office202-225-59652464 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515Submit your message online: titus.house.gov/contact/email-me

REP. JACKY ROSEN, D-NEV. (DISTRICT 3)n Las Vegas office702-963-9500 8872 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 220, Las Vegas NV 89123n D.C. office202-225-3252413 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515Submit your message online: rosen.house.gov/contact/email

REP. RUBEN KIHUEN, D-NEV. (DISTRICT 4) n Las Vegas office 702-963-93602250 Las Vegas Blvd. North, Suite 500, North Las Vegas 89030n D.C. office202-225-9894313 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515Submit your message online: kihuen.house.gov/contact

GOV. BRIAN SANDOVALn Las Vegas office702-486-2500Grant Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Suite 5100, Las Vegas NV 89101n Carson City office 775-684-5670State Capitol Building, 101 N. Carson St., Carson City NV 89701Submit your message online: gov.nv.gov/Contact/Email-the-Governor

ATTORNEY GENERAL ADAM PAUL LAXALTn Las Vegas office702-486-3420Grant Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Suite 3900, Las Vegas NV 89101n Carson City office 775-684-1100100 N. Carson St., Carson City NV 89701aginfo@ag.nv.gov

calling for the ATF to “immediately review whether these de-vices comply with federal law.” For the NRA, an organization that unflinchingly opposes any tightening of gun control regu-lations, this was a rare and telling move.

Further, the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational En-hancement (SHARE) Act, introduced in Congress this year, would reduce restrictions on purchasing gun silencers. Fol-lowing the shooting, House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that the NRA-backed bill was taken off the Congressional schedule for now, though it could soon return. — Emma Cauthorn

HOW DOES A BUMP STOCK WORK? Excerpt from a Popular Mechanics story on the devices:Bump stocks are simple pieces of equipment that replace the stock of a rifle and add a small “support step” in front of the trigger. The shooter rests his finger on this step and pulls for-ward on the barrel or forward grip to press the trigger against his finger. The recoil of the shot then propels the rifle backward into a gap in the stationary stock where the loose fit gives the rifle freedom to bounce forward. This, along with sustained forward pressure on the rifle, has the effect of ‘bumping’ the trigger back into the shooter’s unmoving finger. So long as a shooter maintains forward pressure, the rifle will continue to fire at a rate much faster than could be accomplished with even the quickest possible series of manual trigger pulls.

An Oct. 3 view of the festival grounds shows it littered with personal belongings left behind after the shooting began. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Krisdie Snedeger chose to run. Having just pulled herself and

a friend over a fence near the main stage after the initial round of gun-shots rang out at the Route 91 Harvest festival, the 25-year-old Las Vegan surveyed the options. Nearby, people were cramming themselves underneath the stage and jumping into dumpsters. The east gates of the venue were wide open, but there was no protection in the space between.

The pop pop pop pop pop pop of an automatic weapon still echoed around them. The gunfire seemed to come from everywhere. Bodies were everywhere.

“We grabbed hands and ran into open fire,” Snedeger says. “I was prepping myself for that bullet. We just kept running.”

As she rounded a corner around a fence, she instinctively pulled out her phone and called her mom. She left a voicemail telling her goodbye.

“Maybe that was dumb. It probably slowed me down. But I didn’t think I was going to make it.”

Snedeger isn’t sure whether running saved her life or if she simply got lucky. She ran through the roughly 10-minute barrage and kept going toward McCar-ran International Airport, urging others to move. She ran until her body col-lapsed. For reasons she can’t explain, there was blood in her vomit.

She and dozens of others hid in an airplane hangar someone had broken into for shelter. A stranger offered her a bottle of water to wash out the taste in her mouth. Nearby, a group of women tended to a man with a tour-niquet around his leg and screamed for someone to call an ambulance. Eventually, one came. A pickup truck drove by, its driver looking for injured people to transport to the hospital.

Because they were physically OK, she and her friend waited.

Forty-eight hours after the shoot-ing, the reality of the situation — and the guilt of surviving — was beginning to set in for Snedeger. She has tried to watch videos from the night, including one a friend took at the very beginning when many in the crowd thought some jerk was just throwing fireworks. But the sound of the gunfire sickens her, and she has to look away. She wonders if she could have done more. She won-ders if the bodies she ran past or over were truly lifeless. She wonders if the event cops she saw shielding groups of huddling women made it out OK. They told her to run.

“I’ve realized we were good people versus one bad person,” Snedeger says. “Even though I didn’t stop and I didn’t hold anyone’s blood in, I was watching. I could see. Nobody left a loved one. Everybody stopped. No-body died alone.” –April Corbin

METRO POLICEStephen Paddock’s attack lasted roughly 10 agonizing minutes, kill-

ing 58 people and leaving almost 500 injured, some critically. But of-ficials said it could have gone on longer if not for a quick response by Metro Police. The complexities involved in stopping Paddock were diz-zying. Among them:

• In a chaotic situation, responding officers had to determine where the bullets were coming from. Mandalay Bay security played a crucial role in helping locate Paddock, passing along information gleaned from calls from guests in nearby rooms. Security officers joined a team of Metro officers working at an event inside the prop-erty to respond.

• “I want to say kudos to those officers who got together and said, ‘This is what we trained for — active shooter. Let’s go engage this indi-vidual,’ ” Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said.

• Unlike police departments in some other mass shootings, Metro opted not to surround Paddock and wait for tactical teams. “I will not disparage another police department’s response, but I will tell you we quite often learn from what other people do,” Lombardo said. “As a result, what occurred in Columbine, what occurred in Sacramento, what occurred in Boston, what occurred at the Pulse nightclub, police responses changed. So we’ve found it’s better, in-stead of securing the perimeter and hoping the person doesn’t con-tinue to do acts of carnage … that even a small police response will stop the suspect’s actions.”

• Paddock was still alive when Mandalay Bay security officer Jesus Campos came upon his room, following up on a report of a door ajar. Paddock fired through the door, wounding Campos, but the firing on the crowd ended. When Metro officers entered the room, Paddock was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. “People have the assumption that things went wrong in this type of carnage,” Lombardo said. “But what went right is we saved hundreds of lives.” –Ric Anderson

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A body lies in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after Sunday’s mass shooting. (STEVE MARCUS/STAFF)

What went right?

HOSPITAL STAFFAs gunfire erupted, Sunrise Hospital and Medical

Center was about to undergo an extreme test: 214 vic-tims in three hours, 130 with gunshot wounds.

The situation wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. Sunrise had participated in live mass-casualty trainings with sister hospitals MountainView and Southern Hills, which also would take in victims. Sunrise was oper-ating under a comprehensive plan with protocols for calling in off-duty staff from every area of opera-tions — physicians, nurses, pharmacy professionals, environmental services staff, etc. And in tabletop exercises, the staff had simulated its response to an emergency involving more than 250 people. “This is Las Vegas. We have to do that,” said Dr. Jeffrey Mu-rawsky, Sunrise’s chief medical officer.

As Sunrise turned into a swirl of human motion — paramedics transporting victims, Metro officers keeping paths clear, hospital staff rolling out wheel-

chairs for victims brought by private vehicles — staff members fell back on their training. “I can’t be happy that people lost their lives, but I couldn’t be prouder of the people at Sunrise and our sisters at Mountain-View and Southern Hills,” Murawsky said.

Sunrise was one of at least nine hospitals that treated Sunday’s victims, saving dozens of lives. Among them was UMC, which also maintains mass-casualty plans and conducts disaster drills. CNBC reported that the hospital conducted a training session in July that included a speech by a Florida physician who had dealt with victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Fla.

“We couldn’t be more proud of the community response,” said Dr. John Fildes, director of UMC’s Level 1 trauma center. “Every hospital took serious patients. Everybody took care of them well. And we’ve exercised our disaster plan in Las Vegas, and it was rolled out flawlessly.” –RA

STRIP PROPERTIESFrom the earliest moments of the tragedy,

crisis management by nearby casino-resorts helped keep people safe. And it started with Mandalay Bay’s security team.

“We would not have engaged this indi-vidual in the time-lapse that we did without their assistance,” Lombardo said.

Las Vegas casinos maintain emergency plans and conduct training exercises to deal with mass-casualty situations. They don’t discuss details, so as not to give potential at-tackers a strategic advantage, but these plans are a crucial part of operations in which com-panies invest significantly. It’s a cost of do-ing business: If guests don’t feel safe, they go elsewhere.

But it’s also a balancing act. Intrusive se-curity measures like those at airports can put

guests ill at ease. (That’s why Steve Wynn, whose security systems at Wynn and Encore are recognized as among the most extensive on the Strip, installed hidden metal detec-tors and uses plain-clothed, specially trained guards.) So security isn’t always visible until a serious event, which was the case Sunday.

As security at the MGM Resorts Interna-tional property hustled to move guests to safe areas and lock down the casino, staffs at other casinos followed suit.

Amid what turned out to be false reports of active shooters operating at multiple casi-nos and explosives going off on the Strip, ca-sino companies up and down the boulevard locked down. At the Tropicana, for example, people were moved into ballrooms and pro-vided sheets, towels and water. Metro kept them updated until it was safe to leave. –RA

‘NOBODY DIED ALONE’

WHAT WE DID RIGHTBREAKING DOWN KEY POINTS OF LAS VEGAS’ CRISIS RESPONSE

FIRST RESPONDERSWhen bullets rained on the festival, first responders went to work (in-

cluding two off-duty firefighters shot while giving CPR). A Clark County Fire Department crew on an unrelated call in the area was on the scene almost immediately. Some 180 local firefighters would respond, among others. Robert Hayes of the Los Angeles Fire Department described to CBS News how first responders and the crowd worked together to pro-

vide aid. “There were people sitting there that wouldn’t leave people who were shot, and they didn’t even know them,” he said. Clark County

Fire Chief Greg Cassell said the first crews on the scene followed active-shooter plans developed over the past decade. Forming small teams

with Metro officers and wearing protective helmets and vests, they en-tered the grounds to help the wounded. Cassell said the plans worked

out exactly as hoped, and no active firefighters were injured.

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20OCT. 8-OCT. 14

Hannah Ahlers34, Beaumont, CA

Candice Bowers40, Garden Grove, CA

Christiana Duarte 22, Torrance, CA

Jennifer Irvine42, San Diego, CA

Kelsey Meadows 28, Taft, CA

Jennifer Parks 36, Lancaster, CA

Rocio Guillen 40, Eastvale, CA

Kurt Von Tillow 55, Cameron Park, CA

Michelle Vo32, Los Angeles, CA

William Wolfe Jr.42, Shippensburg, PA

Lisa Romero-Muniz 48, Gallup, NM

Christopher Roybal 28, Denver, CO

Brett Schwanbeck 61, Bullhead City, AZ

Bailey Schweitzer 20, Bakersfield, CA

Laura Shipp50, Thousand Oaks, CA

Susan Smith 53, Simi Valley, CA

Tara Ann Roe34, Alberta, Canada

Derrick “Bo” Taylor56, Oxnard, CA

Carolyn Parsons 31, Seattle, WA

Lisa Patterson 46, RPV, CA

John Phippen 57, Valencia, CA

Melissa Ramirez 26, Bakersfield, CA

Jordyn Rivera21, San Bernardino, CA

Calla-Marie Medig 28, Alberta, Canada

James Melton29, Paris, TN

Austin Meyer24, Reno, NV

Patricia Mestas67, Menifee, CA

Adrian Murfitt35, Anchorage, AK

Rachael Parker33, Manhattan Beach, CA

Teresa Nicol Kimura38, Placentia, CA

Carly Kreibaum 33, Sutherland, IA

Jessica Klymchuk34, Alberta, Canada

Rhonda LeRocque 42, Tewksbury, MA

Victor Link55, San Clemente, CA

Jordan McIldoon 23, B.C., Canada

Stacee Etcheber 50, Novato, CA

Brian Fraser 39, Walnut, CA

Keri Galvan51, Thousand Oaks, CA

Dana Gardner52, Grand Terrace, CA

Angie Gomez 20, Riverside, CA

Chris Hazencomb 44, Camarillo, CA

Denise Burditus50, Martinsburg, WV

Sandra Casey35, Redondo Beach, CA

Denise Cohen58, Carpinteria, CA

Austin Davis 29, Riverside, CA

Thomas Day Jr. 54, Corona, CA

Heather Alvarado 35, Enoch, UT

Dorene Anderson 49, Anchorage, AK

Carrie Barnette 34, Garden Grove, CA

Jack Beaton 54, Bakersfield, CA

Stephen Berger 44, Milwaukee, WI

Served in the National Guard before working his way up the ranks of Metro Police. He was a husband, a father and a youth football coach affection-

ately nicknamed “Chucky.”

Friend Troy Rhett said, “He was one of the best people you’ll ever know — down-to-earth, hardwork-ing, but also very

charismatic, caring and well-rounded.”Hartfield, who posted a photo from

the festival on Facebook hours before gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire, was one of six valley residents to lose their lives that night.

Both Metro and Hartfield’s team, the Henderson Cowboys, released state-ments mourning his loss.

“One of the most energetic, char-ismatic, greatest people I’ve been around. To think about someone who has been such a big part of my life shot dead trying to help others is a terrible feeling,” read a tweeted pho-to of a letter handwritten by 15-year-old former Cowboy Micah Bowens, now a sophomore quarterback at Bishop Gorman.

Hartfield’s book, “Memoirs of a Public Servant,” was released in July. It detailed his career as a Metro officer and personal struggles after witnessing horrific deaths. On Twitter, he provided advice and support to local reporters and members of the community.

CHARLESTON HARTFIELD, 34

NEYSA TONKS, 46Was a 10-year resident of the valley,

where the single mom raised her sons, Kaden, 24, Braxton, 17, and Greysen, 14.

Brother Cody Davis of Sandy, Utah, said Tonks was an “adventurer” who liked to hike, ski, go to the beach and attend con-certs. Always “the life of the party,” Tonks died while enjoying a hobby, Davis said.

On Facebook, Tonks’ friend Mokun Mohan called her “the most amazing person.”

“She had a great smile and the most positive outlook to life!” Mohan wrote.

Tonks worked for IT firm Technolo-gent, which released a statement call-ing her a “great mother, colleague and friend,” who brought joy and laughter to the office environment. The company set up a GoFundMe in her name that raised $125,000 in its first day.

CAMERON ROBINSON, 28

Graduated from Nevada State College at age 20 and soon after joined the city of Las Vegas as a records keeper. He’d recently moved to St. George, Utah, to live with his boyfriend Bobby Eard-ley, commuting back and forth.

On Sunday, Robin-son succumbed to a gunshot wound to his neck while at the festi-val with Eardley.

Las Vegas City At-torney Brad Jerbic, who hired Robinson, remembered him as an outgoing yet efficient employee, and an even better person.

“Everything went up a notch with Cam-eron,” Jerbic said. “He made everything bet-ter here.”

Robinson’s death was a “horrible night-mare” for his oldest sister, Meghan Ervin, who called him the best uncle, brother, son and companion. “He was so happy and had an amazing man in his life,” Ervin wrote on Facebook.

QUINTIN ROBBINS, 20

Was on a date with girlfriend Ally Plumlee when he was fatally shot.

Despite his young age, Rob-bins, described by those close to him as “generous” and “caring,” had al-ready begun making his mark in the Hen-derson community.

A graduate of Basic High School, active participant in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and one-time student at UNLV, Robbins refereed basketball games and kept score at the Henderson Mul-tigenerational Cen-ter to make a living. He also served as an assistant basketball coach for Basic’s freshman team, just two years removed from playing for the school’s varsity team himself.

“He was the most kind-hearted person I know,” said Rob-bins’ cousin Bryce Jordan, while wait-ing to donate blood Monday in Hen-derson. “He loved people.”

Basic’s basket-ball coach Leonard Taylor wrote on Facebook: “He was such an incredible soul, wise beyond his years.”

ERICK SILVA, 21Was stationed at the front of the

stage as part of the concert’s security detail when bullets started shower-ing down. Instead of fleeing, Silva served as one of the event’s very first responders, helping victims find their footing and hop a stage-side barricade for cover, said Gina Argento, area director for Las Vegas-based Con-temporary Services Corp. security.

Argento, whose company had 200 staffers at the event, said Silva was “like a son” to her. He often worked up to 20 hours at a time to staff major events like Electric Daisy Carnival, Life is Beautiful and CES. “He was notorious for locating people with fake wrist-bands, and he was our top guy for lo-gistics,” Argento said. “He took pride in counting how many fence-jumpers he could get each night trying to sneak into events.”

BRENNAN STEWART, 30Was a diehard fan of the Atlanta Braves and San

Francisco 49ers. He loved to play guitar, ride dirt bikes and hunt, his sister-in-law Kelly Stewart said.

The final actions of Stewart’s life were heroic, she said. Stewart shielded his girlfriend as bullets flew and helped others to safety before he was struck.

“He made close friends quickly, was loved and will be missed greatly,” Kelly Stewart said. “But his memory will live on.”

LASVEGAS|| SHOOTING

THOSE WE LOSTAndrea Castilla28, Huntington Beach, CA

BRIAN FELIZAn off-duty Henderson firefighter and

paramedic, Brian Feliz directed those around him to shelter during the first bursts of shooting. “We found space between the fence and the suites, and I just started feeding people into the area for protection,” said Feliz, 39, a Southern Nevada resident since 1996. “I started pick-ing people up, grabbing people and telling them, ‘You’ve got to get up, you have to keep going to a dark place for protection, behind buses and cars.”

Then they heard the pinging of bullets piercing the walls Feliz had hoped would shield them. “I knew we were in a bad spot,” he said, adding that the group would

move four times in search of safety.

Some people started climbing the perimeter fence, but for every-one to escape, that would take more time than Feliz was willing to spend. So he and some other men tore it down. “It was like the

floodgates opened then,” he said. Once relatively safe, Feliz switched into

work mode to help the wounded, includ-ing one woman who had been shot in both hands while trying to protect her head.

“I got lucky. My friend got lucky. His wife got lucky. Maybe there’s a reason me and all these other off-duty people were at the concert,” he said. “I’m not an es-pecially religious person, but I do believe there’s a reason for people to be where they’re at.” –DM

AJAY FORD

A fter helping a woman over some barricades, Ajay Ford acted as her human shield in what had become a war zone.

“She said, ‘I’m a nurse; I need to help these people. I’m going to use you as cover,’ ” he remembered. “And I said, ‘Let’s go.’ ”

They saw haunting injuries, and as the nurse sprang into action, Ford, 25, came across a man groaning. Someone said his name was Chris, and Ford checked his pulse. It was strong, but he was lying in a pool of blood after being shot in the back of the head.

Ford, a Las Vegas native who works at Desert Springs Pools & Spas and played baseball at College of Southern Nevada, applied pressure to Chris’ head and called a friend who works as an EMT.

“I just kept telling him to hang on,” Ford said. “Keep fight-ing. Don’t quit. I must have told him to keep breathing 100 times. Chris was the first person I got to who was alive. There was no one with him, and I wasn’t going to leave him.”

Ford stayed with Chris until someone brought over a guard rail to use as a gurney. He cushioned the wound with a denim jacket and dragged Chris out of danger and into the care of

others. He then went back to help more people.The next day, Ford posted a message to Facebook, asking for updates about

the man with the reddish hair and the black Georgia Bulldogs shirt. “I would love to find out if he’s alive so I could know that I helped,” Ford said.

“And if he’s not alive, I just want his family to know he fought hard. He fought for a long time. We were there together for 30 to 45 minutes.”

Ford spent Monday and much of Tuesday watching the news and checking social media, pouring through video tributes hoping not to see Chris’ face.

Chris Hazencomb, of Camarillo, Calif., died at the hospital at 10:50 a.m. Mon-day morning. He was the 58th confirmed death in the shooting. –Dave Mondt

LASVEGAS|| SHOOTING THE SUNDAY23

OCT. 8-OCT. 14THE SUNDAY

22OCT. 8-OCT. 14

58 KILLED489 WOUNDED

As of press time, 317 of those injured in the shooting had been discharged from area hospitals. Remaining patients were in stable and critical condition.

L I G H T S I N T H E D A R K

FORD FELIZ

HEROES EMERGE FROM THE DEADLIEST SHOOTING IN MODERN U.S. HISTORY

H E R E A R E J U S T A F E W O F T H E M A N Y

THE SUNDAY25

OCT. 8-OCT. 14THE SUNDAY

24OCT. 8-OCT. 14 LASVEGAS|| SHOOTING

PAT AND COLLI AMICO

In 10 years together, Pat and Colli Amico have attended many Route 91 Harvest festivals, often with

Pat’s children or grand-children in tow. This year, a friend gave them VIP tickets to the festi-val’s Neon Lounge, so the couple went alone.

While Jason Aldean was playing, they started walking to their truck to avoid the traffic. “I saw the sparks fly from the pole holding up the Neon Lounge sign,” said Pat, who covered Colli with his body at the feet of a man in a camp chair who thought it was part of the show. “People went down; they were hit. The bullets were pinging around us. … I took her hand and I said, ‘We’re going to walk, not run. We don’t want to get trampled.’ ”

PAT AMICO

COLLI AMICO

KARI AND MIKE PHILBECK

Not long after Kari Philbeck realized the loud pops pierc-ing the night weren’t fireworks, the 40-year-old Las Vegan heard another strange sound — her husband’s voice. “It was a voice I never heard him use before. And I’ve been with him since we were teenagers.”

Married for 16 years, he is a general contractor and she is a sales executive with Coca-Cola. Before the shooting, Kari was entertaining clients on the third floor of a building her company rented to the right of the stage. The “fireworks” started just as she rejoined Mike on the field.

“I froze, and my husband pushed me in the trailer,” she said. “He never went down, but the rest of us were on the ground, and then he went into Marine mode. He kept going out while the shots were fir-ing and grabbing people and throwing them into our suite.”

When Mike decided the suite wasn’t safe and they needed to move, not everyone thought it was a good idea. That’s when Kari saw another side of her husband. “It was just a differ-ent voice,” she said. “He yelled, ‘Sitting in this room and not moving puts us more at risk. We have to move.’ ”

Mike never saw combat in the Marines. His job was in logistics. While he thinks his training may have helped Sunday night, he says he was simply doing his best to keep himself and everyone around him alive. “Survival kicked in. I thought, I’m not going to sit here and be a victim,” Mike said. “You couldn’t tell where the firing was coming from. It felt so close. It felt like some-one was coming through the crowd toward us.”

The group made headway, but Mike had to save Kari from her own instincts when she ran into a crawl space and froze.

“Time slowed down,” she said. “You could hear the bul-lets. ... I saw everything I’ve done wrong. I was telling God I was sorry. Mike and my co-workers were screaming my name, telling me to get out. He held my face and said, ‘We’re going to run. You will run.’ ”

Of Paddock, Mike said: “I don’t believe people snap. You don’t drive from Mesquite and plan for three days when you snap. He knew exactly what he was doing.” –Thomas Moore

RUNNING INTO THE LINE OF FIRE, YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM, POLICE OFFICERS AND PARAMEDICS. I SAW HEROES.”

‘I SAW HEROES ...

As the couple made their way across the grounds, another round of bullets rang out. Colli jumped on top of another wom-an, and then Pat shielded both

of them.“He had a perfect line of

sight; he was just follow-ing the crowd,” Pat said of the shooter.

The three of them made it to the truck, and Pat called out to others to jump in the back, telling them to lie flat. He says eight or nine people piled on top of each other, including a girl who was shot as they drove onto East Reno Avenue. Pat tried to get the attention of an ambulance racing

toward the festival, blaring his horn and flashing his lights. When another followed, he maneuvered his vehicle to block it. Once the paramedics under-stood, Pat said, they reacted with incredible speed.

Those who weren’t injured remained in the care of Pat and Colli. When they were a safe dis-tance away, he pulled over, made sure everyone called their loved ones, and took them where they needed to go. “I’m not a hero, I did what anyone else would,” Pat said. –Camalot ToddPeople gather on the night of Oct. 4

at a memorial at the intersection of Reno Avenue and Las Vegas Boule-vard. (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

THE SUNDAY27

OCT. 8-OCT. 14THE SUNDAY

26OCT. 8-OCT. 14

THE ENTIRE CITY

W hen Raymond Certeza heard on the news that UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center had been opened to stranded fes-

tivalgoers and tourists after the Oct. 1 shoot-ing, he sprang into action. Despite having left the Strip only hours earlier when his shift at a Mirage restaurant ended, the cook grabbed all the snacks, cellphone chargers and bottles of water inside his home and headed toward the center. And his dachshund-pitbull mix Coco came with him.

When they got to the Thomas & Mack, bus-loads of people had already been dropped off — women holding the cowboy boots that had blistered their feet as they ran for their lives, men limping on ankles sprained after jump-ing over barricades, and jetlagged tourists with suitcases who’d gotten stuck on shuttles when the south Strip shut down. Certeza walked up to many of them and offered Pop-Tarts, cuddles with Coco and a bright smile on the darkest of nights. When he came across two tourists who needed to get to the Venetian, he drove them himself. Then, he drove back to the Thomas & Mack for more.

As the hours passed and the death toll grew, so did the number of volunteers like Certeza. Lyft and Uber drivers walked the hall announc-ing free rides for anyone who had someplace

to go. Locals dropped off food, water and coats. By the time the sun began peeking over the horizon, there was a crate of tangerines, freshly baked donuts and coffee waiting for the dozens of people who’d slept in plastic arena chairs or blankets laid on the concourse floor.

It was the beginning of an overwhelming community response.

Lines to donate blood formed at 4 a.m., just six hours after the shooting started. By the afternoon, United Blood Services was booking donations days out.

Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak started a GoFundMe page Monday hop-ing to raise $500,000 for the victims. At press time, more than $9.7 million had been raised, with the goal upped to $15 million.

Nonprofits received such an overflow of donations that they began directing people to others around town. And dozens of businesses of all sizes and stripes offered free services to victims and their families, from trauma coun-seling to airline flights.

Before the full magnitude of the crisis was known on Sunday night, Las Vegans were out in force on Facebook, offering rides, places to stay and whatever else was needed, their locations and cell numbers shared without pause. Some of them ended up with Certeza at the Thomas & Mack, wanting desperately to help.

“Whatever we can do,” he said, “we gotta do.” –April Corbin & Camalot Todd

LUZANA FLORES

“You hear about attacks all around the world, but the feeling is so different when it happens in your city,” said Luzana Flores. The 23-year-old musician moved to Las Vegas a year ago from Columbus, Ga., and the shoot-ing unfolded a few freeway exits from her apartment.

Both anemic and unable to give blood, she and her friend Reina Ho-hener organized a donation drive hosted by down-town’s Bunkhouse, and their friend Heather Toledo man-aged distribution. On Facebook, Flores expressed her sur-prise at the turnout for something put together by “a group of 20-year-olds play-ing it by ear.”

As a result of the drive, supplies were delivered to the Las Vegas Conven-tion Center, Sunrise and UMC hospitals, homeless shelters and police stations, and snack packages were given to those waiting in line to give blood. “The magni-tude of Sunday in-spired a lot of people to go out and do whatever it took to get back on our feet,” Flores said. –CT

BAILEY THOMPSONA student at Basic Academy and big fan

of Jason Aldean, 17-year-old Bailey Thomp-son arrived at the Route 91 Harvest festival late. Less than an hour later, he was tying T-shirts around strangers’ wounds, creating tourniquets to prevent them from bleed-

ing to death. “There was a young woman ... shot in the leg, or foot,” Thompson said, unsure of the memory because he helped so many wounded. “I got a belt from a buddy and tied it around her. My No. 1 thing was to stop the bleed.”

The experience, Thompson said, makes him consider medical training in the Army. And after that? “I’m dead-set on being a po-lice officer. This is the place for me. I’m battle born, and that’s how I’m gonna stay.” –DM

BILLY TUFANOBilly Tufano and five friends were watching Jason Al-

dean’s closing set when the first shots rang out.“We thought someone was throwing firecrackers at

the ground,” Tufano said. When someone pinpointed the shooting coming

from Mandalay Bay, they knew they had to get out.“I turned around, and my friend Nick was coughing

up blood; there was blood coming from his nose. His brother Anthony split the group up.”

Tufano and Anthony Robone, a trained paramedic, stayed with Nick as their friends rushed Anthony’s girl-

friend Danielle to safety. Tufano described the scene as mayhem. “Dozens of people were shot, many were critically injured,” he said. “In that situation, five min-utes feels like an hour.”

Tufano applied pressure to the bullet wound in Nick’s chest while Anthony raced to the nearest medic tent for a

first-aid kit. Once the wound was wrapped and Nick was on his way to Sunrise Hospital, the pair helped more people on the field.

“It was like Anthony kicked into his paramedic mode,” Tufano said. “Everyone was helping everyone. People were taking their belts and making tourniquets.”

Tuesday morning, Tufano was happy to report that Nick was stable. He has known the Robone brothers for 20 years, as they grew up here playing hockey together.

“Las Vegas is small, but that community that was there, human nature took over,” Tufano said. “Hun-dreds, if not thousands, of people helped because it was the right thing to do. ... It’s nice to know there’s more good people outweighing the bad.” –CT

DENISSE SIMBULANDenisse Simbulan married Emmanuel

Mojica Sept. 30 at Boulder Creek Golf Club. He sported a purple bow tie; she dazzled in a white mermaid gown. Just over 24 hours later, Denisse left her new husband in their honeymoon suite, grabbed her scrubs and

headed to the hospital where she worked.

“I was afraid for her,” says Emmanuel, a mid-dle school choir teacher. But Denisse went where she was needed.

Sunrise Hospital took on hundreds of patients, and the nurse spent hours assisting victims

with noncritical injuries. Afterward, she insist-ed she “just went into work.” But Emmanuel knows every staffer that night helped save lives. He said his love and respect for his wife has only grown deeper because of it. –AC

LASVEGAS|| SHOOTING

SIMBULAN THOMPSON

TUFAN0

HUNDREDS, IF NOT THOUSANDS, OF PEOPLE HELPED BECAUSE IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.”

‘LAS VEGAS IS SMALL, BUT THAT COMMUNITY THAT WAS THERE ... HUMAN NATURE TOOK OVER.

People pause at a tribute at the Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas Sign Oct. 5, honoring victims. (MIKAYLA WHITMORE/STAFF)

A memorial to the victims of the massacre burns Oct. 3 at the corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Ve-

gas Boulevard. (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)