THE COAST CONNECTION
Killer’s roommate lived in Nerang for a decade More than 50 slaughtered in horror attack
THE entertainment capital of the world turned into a horror show last night for Gold Coasters holidaying and working near the bloody massacre in Las Vegas.
Former Gold Coast casino executive Brian Hodge was staying in the Mandalay Bay Resort, in the room next door to the alleged shooter.
“It was a machine gun from the room next to me. My floor is a crime scene. They killed a security guard on my floor,” he added.
“I got outside safely and was hiding in bushes.”
Two hours later, Hodge said he and his colleagues were rescued by a SWAT team.
The ex-entertainment marketing and special events director for The Star in Broadbeach, formerly Jupiter’s, travelled from Los Angeles to Las Vegas three days ago for work.
‘THOUGHT IT WAS FIREWORKS’
Gold Coaster Jenni Mcilroy told the Bulletin she was in the Luxor Hotel next door to where the shooting was.
The Broadbeach Waters resident, holidaying in the US for a month with three friends, was told to stay in her room during the shooting.
“I was in bed watching a movie when I heard the gun shots,” The Star Gold Coast worker said.
“I didn’t know they were gunshots at first, I thought they were fireworks for the concert across the road.
“But when they kept going, I thought it was weird so I got up and looked out my window (I’m on 7th floor) and saw heaps of people running towards the Luxor Hotel and lots of police cars.
“I then realised what the noise was and I went and got dressed, not sure why but just in case we had to evacuate.
“They put a message through the intercoms in our rooms to stay in our rooms until further notice.”
‘WE CANNOT LEAVE’
Jessica Winters and partner Peter Tutton were on the trip of a lifetime in the United States when they ended up in lockdown at the MGM Grand near the shootings.
The owners of Mermaid Waters cafe Double Barrel Kitchen were evacuated out the back after being ushered from the restaurant.
“We were in the restaurant and everyone was running through the casino.
“I said to our waiter ‘What’s going on?’ He said ‘Oh there must be a celebrity.’ I was like ‘No are there are alarms going off, do we need to evacuate?’
“Then a guy came in and said ‘There’s a shooter, you need to get out’. The staff quickly ushered us out the back of house.
“Then after 10 minutes we were told we could go back out, everything was ok. Then the alarms started going off. They evacuated us twice. We are out the back now, locked in the casino. We cannot leave just yet,” she said last night.
Ms Winters told the Bulletin she had been physically sick during the ordeal and was being calmed by Mr Tutton.
“The people shot were at the country music festival across the road from MGM. I’m sitting here crying. It’s very scary. Peter is here telling me everything is OK. He’s my calm voice right now.”
The pair, who left Australia on September 6, planned to be in Vegas for only a few days.
When MGM staff told them they were allowed to leave, Ms Winters said they had decided to stay put.
Her final message last night read: “Heavy armed police with machine guns just brought two injured people past us in MGM.”
“HUNDREDS OF SHOTS”
Globetrotting Thunder from Down Under MC Nathan Claridge almost drove headfirst toward the drama.
The Surfers Paradise Ultra Lounge bar co-owner described just leaving the Thunder’s nightly show at Excalibur Hotel & Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard when volleys of machine gun fire pierced the night.
In a car with Thunder colleague Benny Cleary, of the Sunshine Coast, they initially drove toward the scene.
Mr Claridge said eventually they saw where people were running from and went the other way.
“We had to turn around because we were going straight up towards it. We did the getaway in the car – we were spinning it.
“It wasn’t just a round after round - it was machine gun fire, it didn’t sound like just one but a couple of people shooting off guns.
“Hundreds of shots, people were running down the road and yelling to get off the road.
Cops cars were screaming by.
“We were like ‘Do we help people?’ - and people were like ‘Just get the f..k out of here, don’t go that way, get out of here’.”
On video Mr Claridge posted to Facebook, rapid gunfire is heard ringing out.
He can be heard saying: “Yo, what’s doing up there? Yo, where is that coming from? What the f..k?
“Holy s..t...gunfire down there...f..k,” he says on the video.
“People are everywhere, running for cover, we heard probably at least a few thousand shots go off, with a machine gun or something.”
“LOVE YOU, IN CASE I GET SHOT”
Burleigh Waters couple Maree and Russell Dove had just started a walk along The Strip in Las Vegas when it started.
About 15 police cars, fire trucks and ambulances raced by to the scene.
“We heard ten different lots of shooting,” she said.
“People started running and crying in terror saying there was someone shooting up near Mandalay Bay.
“One man told us to get out of there, he was just at the concert when the gunman was just shooting.
“His friend had just been shot, he had blood on his shirt. A lady with him was phoning loved ones and said to them ‘I love you just in case I get shot’.
“It was so horrible watching young people and grown men with so much fear on their faces and crying.”
Mrs Dove said after turning around and heading back to her hotel she phoned her son and told him they were safe and posted a message to Facebook so their loved ones would not worry.
“We are a bit shakey,” Mrs Dove. “People were running into buildings to escape as (nobody knew) if the gunman had got away.
“As we got back to (our hotel), people were hidding in the bushes from the gunman and asking us was it safe where we came from.”