One year later, Las Vegas reflects onits darkest hour
LAS VEGAS — Mynda Smith’s sleep was restless. Normally, she would have had a protein shake for breakfast, but Monday, all she could do was sip water.
A year ago her sister was killed. Neysa Tonks, 46, was one of the 58 gunned down at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip — the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The tragedy was so big and so public, but within Tonks’ family, the loss was private and constant.
It was still dark when Smith drove to the Clark County Government Center Amphitheater from her Las Vegas home early Monday. A large crowd would be there for the sunrise remembrance for those killed and wounded a year ago Oct. 1 — for many, another step in the healing process.
Smith, 43, had her Vegas Strong T-shirt on. She wore the necklace with her sister’s fingerprint on it, which she touched for strength. She stood at the podium, thankful there were tissues placed there. Her voice cracked.
“I look out and see so many who have been through so much,” Smith said. “I am truly grateful to be standing here with so much love in my heart.”
In the crowd, Mary Rivera, whose 21-year-old daughter Jordyn Rivera, was killed in the shooting, teared up. So did Mary Jo Von Tillow, whose husband was also killed by the gunfire. Family members of Brian Fraser, also killed, put their arms around each other — most wearing black T-shirts with angel wings on them along with the words, “Tomorrow is not promised, live every day with intent.”
Throughout the year, Las Vegas has been honoring those who died. There have been concerts, fundraisers and the Clark County Museum worked on a display that features items left by mourners at the city’s famed Welcome to Las Vegas sign.
Within that year, the Vegas Golden Knights retired the No. 58 to commemorate those who died. Portraits of all 58 victims are on display at the County Government Center. And it is nearly impossible to drive around the city without seeing #VegasStrong bumper stickers, billboards or T-shirts.
But Monday, the 24-hour city of glitz and gambling was subdued. Different. In downtown Las Vegas, a prayer vigil began at 11:30 a.m. and come nighttime — near the time the shooting began last year — the marquees along the Strip will darken as a tribute.
During the morning service attended by a few hundred, Gov. Brian Sandoval said that even though it’s been a year since the shooting, the pain has never fully lifted.
“Today, we remember the unforgettable,” Sandoval said. “Today, we comfort the inconsolable. Today we gather in mind and body and we never left each other in spirit and heart.”
A line of uniformed police officers, firefighters and members of a multiagency honor guard stood rigidly as the speakers spoke of courage, sadness and resiliency. On balconies overlooking the amphitheater, government workers who arrived before their shifts watched quietly.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said he knew when he woke up Monday that the day would not feel normal. Yes, he said, they still had a job to do — crime doesn’t stop for anniversary events, he noted — but Lombardo said he and his deputies would also be attending other memorial services throughout the city.
“We want to move forward, but sometimes we lose sight of that reflection,” Lombardo said after the ceremony. “I think it was important for me to be grounded this morning and remember what had occurred.”
Smith said in the first weeks after the attack, the sense of loss was so overwhelming that it was sometimes even hard to remember to breathe.