The heroes of the Las Vegas massacre

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On Sunday night, a shooter opened fire from his 32nd floor hotel room and took the lives of nearly 60 people and injured hundreds. What would have been a fun night at a Las Vegas country music concert turned into a massacre. While the shooter was viciously firing into the crowd, there were a few brave men and women who risked their lives to help others make it to safety.

Here are their stories:

Former Marine Taylor Winston and his friend, Jenn Lewis, found an unattended truck and transported victims away from the scene of gunfire. According to the Daily Mail, they made two trips and were able to get two dozen people to a local hospital for medical attention. They flagged down a police officer in a squad car who turned on his flashers to escort them safely through traffic on their way to the hospital.

 

A brave mother did what any mother could do to protect her four-year-old daughter. When gunfire erupted Carly Krygier put her child on the ground and got on top of her, shielding her from the bullets. Both she and her child were unharmed. See the full interview on CNN here:

After the shooting, Lindsay Padgett and fiancé Mike Jay saw how many people were in need of medical assistance. The couple transported five wounded victims and five others carrying wounded victims to a nearby hospital. On the way, they were able to flag down an ambulance where paramedics were able to provide a ride and assistance to the more serious victims.

An Arizona firefighter was shot in the leg while shielding his wife from the gunfire. Kurt Fowler, a father and devoted husband, was hit in the right leg while lying on top of his wife during the shootout. He underwent a successful surgery at a local Las Vegas hospital and is now surrounded by family and friends.

Another hero, Mike Brown, returned to the scene after carrying his wife back up to their room. The firefighter from California went back out see if anyone needed assistance and began performing CPR on a woman. While trying to resuscitate the women, he was shot in the chest. But that didn’t stop him getting his friends to safety before receiving medical attention.

Prayers needed. Lot of people hit. A lot killed. Was doing CPR on a woman in the concert when I got grazed. I’m ok. But a lot of people aren’t,’ he wrote in a Facebook post.

During his interview with the Daily Beast, he described the bravery of the police officers who charged directly toward the gun fire and the gunman.

 

Police officers, including off-duty officers, ran into the line of fire to save people. There were a few officers who were among the victims but they died as heroes that night.

ABC News has the story:

Two off-duty sheriff’s deputies from California who were at a country music festival in Las Vegas when shots rang out ran into the line of fire to help save people, the president of the officers’ union said.

“They went back out where the gunfire was,” after taking the wife of one of the officers and the girlfriend of the other to safety in the stage area, said Tom Dominguez, the head of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs.

One of the deputies is in a hospital recovering after being shot in the abdomen and thigh, Dominguez said.

Law enforcement officers both on and off duty were among the victims of the shooting Sunday night on the Las Vegas Strip — which killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 500 others. Shooting suspect Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, police said. The suspect killed himself by the time officers reached him.

Without the help of these heroic citizens and first responders, more people would have been killed or injured. There are ways that you can help the victims and their families through this tragedy. Click here to donate to the Red Cross.