Brett Kenyon, a native of Danbury, was working in a Las Vegas hotel and saw the police and SWAT teams respond to what has become the deadliest mass shooting in the United States, but he was not sure of what was going on right away.
“We kind of all were just on lockdown, looking out the window. Saw a bunch of SWAT teams and police, but we really had no idea what was actually going on because we were hearing so many different things,” said Kenyon, who was working at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, which is about a 15-minute walk away from the scene of the shooting outside Mandalay Bay.
Officials have identified the suspected shooter as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, as said he fired the gunshots from the 32nd floor of the resort casino.
At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 people who were gathered for the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a country music festival, were injured, according to officials.
Kenyon said he didn’t hear the gunshots, but the chaos reminded him of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in 2012.
“I personally was freaking out. Obviously with Sandy Hook and being from that area, it hits close to home,” Kenyon said. “I just feel uneasy because you just never know what’s going to happen.”
He said he had been at the arena where the shooting happened a week earlier for a concert.
“It just goes through my head, like, ‘That could’ve been me. That could’ve happened last week.’ I go to lots of concerts. I go to lots of events on the strip. That could’ve been me,” he said.
Local
In the wake of tragedy, the community in Las Vegas is coming together to provide help to each other, Kenyon said.
“One of my friends posted that he has extra rooms if people need to stay,” he said.”
Kenyon said he knows several people who were at the concert and they are all OK.
