On the Fifth Anniversary of the 1 October Mass Shooting
Kim Marsh, Director of Sales and Business Development
10/01/2022 Submitted by Kim, who has lived in Las Vegas since 1977.
It was 1 October 2017. Jason Aldean was on stage. There was a crowd of some 22,000 people in attendance for the final performance at the Route 91 Harvest Music festival. They were just there to have an evening of perfect weather, great entertainment, and fun. There were concert goers and there were workers supporting security, the food and drink, and other concessions. 1 October 2022 is the Fifth Anniversary of the 1 October Mass Shooting.
The first shots rang out at 22:05 and continued at a rapid rate in sustained bursts for ten minutes. The last shot was fired at 22:15. He fired more than 1,000 rounds.
The Casualties
The initial casualties totaled 58. The oldest was 67; the youngest was 20. Thirty-four people were from California, six from Nevada, four from Canada, two were from Alaska and Utah, and one each from Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Thirty-one victims were pronounced dead at the scene; twenty-seven died from their wounds in the hospital. The 58th person died on Oct. 3. Two additional people passed due to their injuries within the next two and a half years.
The Injured
There were some 867 people who were injured (at least 413 of them had gunshot wounds or shrapnel injuries). Las Vegas locals went to the scene to bring water and provide transportation to the hospitals. Other locals lined up at the Red Cross to donate blood, with the lines stretching for blocks.
The Final Report from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept.
You can download the final report from LVMPD dated 3 AUG 2018.
I refuse to say his name.
In summary- there was no suicide note found and it was determined he acted alone. He had not been radicalized and there was no evidence he supported any hate group or any foreign or domestic terrorist organization. He had not committed any crimes prior to the mass shooting. All the weapons and ammo had been purchased legally. He was financially okay- he paid his gambling debts off prior to the shooting. He had researched several open-air venues prior to the shooting- from Fenway Park, Lollapalooza in Chicago, to Life Is Beautiful (Las Vegas). In September 2017, he reserved specific rooms at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino overlooking the festival plaza. To this date, there has been no motive determined for this act.
The Final Report from FEMA
You can download the 1 October After-Action Report from FEMA here.
What You Can Do
- Be security aware and pay attention to your surroundings.
- Take Active Threat Training
- Talk with your family- “what would you do?”
For More Information
A new docuseries has been released called “11 Minutes” – a four-part account using cellphone video and bodycam videos to place viewers directly in the midst of the event. Paramount+ will start streaming it on September 27, 2022.
