Panic in Las Vegas for P.E.I. couple

A Summerside couple, who found themselves caught up in what appears to be the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, says they are OK but eager to return home.

Nick and Nicole Fraser arrived in Las Vegas, Nev., on Sept. 27 and are scheduled to leave today. They are there to celebrate their 10-year wedding anniversary.

Until the tragic events of Sunday evening, it was a nice trip for them. They took in some shows, renewed their vows at a little white chapel and generally did what tourists do in Las Vegas.

But that all changed following a Cirque du Soleil show Sunday.

Speaking from their hotel Monday afternoon, Nick said they realized something was wrong as the theatre’s doors opened following the performance.

They were waiting in the crowd to leave when they heard a commotion ahead of them.

As the doors opened and people started moving out onto the street, a crush of people surged the other way, trying to get into the theatre.

It was chaos, said Nick. “People were falling all over the floor trying to get to the exits. People were trampling all over each other, yelling and screaming.”

“Someone was yelling, ‘There’s an active shooter, there’s an active shooter.’”

The Frasers reversed course and ran, along with many others, to a rear emergency exit.

Outside, they found a cab van and jumped into it with a handful strangers.

“Everyone was screaming in the cab for the cabbie to ‘drive, drive, drive.’ ”

The cab drove around Las Vegas for about an hour, as those inside listened for updates and tried to figure out where they were going to go.

The Frasers found themselves on the opposite side of The Strip, which was cut off by police, from their hotel.

Eventually, they found a second hotel and got a room for the night.

By Monday morning police were letting people through The Strip again, and the couple made it back to their original lodgings. Numbers were still being tabulated Monday, but media reports indicate at least 58 people were killed and more than 500 injured when a suspect opened fire on a country music concert from the 32 floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel across the street.

The Frasers estimate they were about two city blocks away from the epicentre of the shooting. The mood in the city Monday was understandably off, they said, though life continued as people were still gambling and going about their business.

The Frasers said they intended to stick around their hotel until their flight out of the city today. Eventually, they will have to find a way to process what’s happened, said Nick.

“It’s a real shitty thing that unfortunately you now have an involvement in, that becomes a part of you. That’s something that I don’t think either of us really wanted.”