‘People just ran in panic’
been a memorable reunion with school friends turned into a night of terror as the group ran out of their hotel casino in fear.
“We went to a hockey game earlier to watch the San Jose Sharks play the Las Vegas Golden Knights in their new arena,” Peters says.
“The weird thing was we were back at the Paris Hotel when the shooting took place. We were sitting on the balcony and looked out onto the strip. We then decided to head down to the hotel casino and then all of a sudden, it was being evacuated.”
Everyone was running to the exits as they were herded down a tunnel.
“People just ran in panic. No one really knew what was happening. Some were shouting that there was a shooter in the casino, someone said there was one behind us. No one knew what was happening. One guy said someone was shot,” he said.
Peters and his friends all found their way back to their hotel rooms safely, turned on the TV and watched the story unfold.
“It was strange because lots of time had gone by from the time of the shooting and the time we were evacuated. The word reached us slowly. It was really delayed, about an hour and fifteen minutes.”
For Wade Gillard of Prince George, visiting Las Vegas with three other local residents, being so close to the shooting and not finding out about it until much later has left him and friends in a state of disbelief.
“We were pretty close to the action, in the New York, New York Hotel. We were just on the slot machines when people started screaming and running out of the casino. We ran out, but we didn’t know where our friends were. People were telling us not to go outside. Some were hiding in the washrooms. Thank God for cell phones. We found our friends.”
Gillard called for a lift and they were taken back to safety in their hotel at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.
“There was such chaos all around us. Police had their guns drawn, we didn’t know anything, how many were killed, how many were injured, how many shooters there were, it was crazy,” Gillard said.
Today, Peters will try to get on with his day as best he can before heading back home on Tuesday.
“This has definitely cast a shadow on things. We are still in shock, the panic and the chaos. We will always remember what happened when we were here,” Peters said.
For Gillard, its a vacation turned into a nightmare.
“We’ve just been messaging people all morning. We are not sure what to do. We have a Billy Idol concert planned for Wednesday, but we’re not sure if that will even happen,” Gillard said.
“We were here for vacation but this hasn’t been much of one at all. This is incredible. We’re just in shock.”