A group of Delawareans flew to Las Vegas Friday morning for a three-day country music festival. They didn’t know Sunday night they’d be running for their lives - caught up in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Wilmington resident Megan O’Donnell Clements’ Facebook page shows the 33-year-old and her friends swaying to music with their cell phones raised above their heads. The final act was playing when the shooting started around 10 p.m. Las Vegas time.
Clements and her friends dodged bullets as people stampeded away in search of safety.
“So we were on the left hand side and ran toward the nearest fence, which had no gate," she said. "So, we kind of had to like break through the fence to get out. And then ended up running down I guess near the airport and into like a private hangar where we kind of had to shelter until they picked us up in shuttles and took us all to the airport.”
Clements said she found blood smeared on her backpack - and she doesn’t know whose blood it was. "That’s kind of a scary thought - that it was somebody that close to me who’s you know injured in some way is kind of terrifying,” she said.
Once safe - she called her husband and mom in Delaware - waking her mom Lucy up from a sound sleep around 1 a.m. The East Coast is three hours ahead.
“I just pray for all the people who didn’t get the good phone call and who got the bad one. And I’m very grateful we got the good one,” Lucy said.
She added that's she's also a bit angry that her daughter and others can't do something fun without worrying for their lives.
Clements and her friends flew back to Delaware Monday morning. She said they remain shaken, and she’s not sure it’s ok to say she’s grateful to have survived.
“I know I should be, but it feels really wrong when so many people were hurt and dead," she said. "Like, it’s very hard to understand why I’m completely fine. It’s hard to understand.”
At least 58 people died in the mass shooting and more than 500 people were injured.
Delaware officials like Sen. Tom Carper and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester said in statements they’re praying for the victims and their families. They are also calling for re-examining the nation’s gun control laws.
