Pretty much anyone in America could tell you where they were when they heard the news about the twin towers falling on September 11, 2001. It’s burned into our memory.
Here, in Las Vegas, pretty much anyone can tell you where they were when they heard the news about the October 1 massacre. Like September 11, it is burned into our memory.
For me, it was 4 am the morning after. I was getting ready to go in to do a tour of the Grand Canyon when my boss called and told me to turn on the news. Needless to say, I did not do the tour.
The event and the outpouring of the community were tremendous and spawned the tagline “#VegasStrong”
A brief review
On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Directly across from the Luxor resort and Mandalay Bay resort
From his 32nd-floor suites in the Mandalay Bay hotel, he fired more than 1,000 bullets, killing 60 people and wounding at least 413. The ensuing panic brought the total number of injured to approximately 867.
About an hour later, he was found dead in his room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The motive for the mass shooting is officially undetermined.
According to the police report, the shooting began at 10:05 pm. Police arrived at Mandalay Bay at 10:11 pm. Heat sensors in the room stopped detecting heat at 10:18 pm
The incident is regarded as the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in United States history. To be honest, that’s not really something Vegas wants to be remembered for.
What was amazing was the outpouring of love and tributes from around the world Many people left memorials at the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.
Including the 58 crosses built by Greg Zanis of Chicago and which were displayed for a while at the “Welcome to Fabulous to Las Vegas” sign.
All these items were collected by the Clark County Museum and are cataloged and preserved in what is called The October One Collection.
The October One Collection
The Remembering 1 October Collection at the Clark County Museum is made up of over 22,000 artifacts that help to tell the story of how the community reacted to the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
2022 is the fifth-year remembrance of that tragic event. From now until January 30, 2023, The museum has set up a special display of some of the items collected.
The Clark County Museum is on Boulder Highway in Henderson. Just off Interstate 11 and Boulder Highway (Map)
One final note, there are plans to build a One October memorial on the site. The final design and build timeline will be released in late 2023
