New Brunswickers who are in Las Vegas are describing the chaos in the aftermath of Sunday’s deadly attack, but also expressing a sense of security in the city.
The deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history has claimed at least 58 lives and injured more than 500 others.
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Gilles Lavoie and his wife, Brenda Teed, are in the city on vacation and were outside the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino on the strip when they saw the stream of police cars heading towards the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino a couple minutes down the road.
“While we were sitting there, we noticed a police car coming down the boulevard, sirens blaring, lights flashing,” he said.
“Then there was another one, and another one, and another one. And they were not just sort of going through traffic, they were really motoring to get to where they were trying to get to.”
The couple quickly realized something serious was happening.
“There was one police car that actually went up on the curb to get around traffic and pedestrians to continue on so we knew something big was up, but we just didn’t know what was going on,” Lavoie said.
It was only when they went back to their hotel, located across from the Mandalay Bay where the shots were fired from, that they realized what had happened.
“It’s just a horrific thing. We feel very blessed that we are fine. We want our friends and family to know we are fine but the people that had to go through this, it’s just horrendous,” he said.
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Lynne Post was with a group of friends in a hotel room off the Vegas strip when shots rang out at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. The women stayed in their hotel room during the events.
“I’m sad for the people who lost their lives and those who were injured,” she said.
Post also happened to live in the lockdown zone during the 2014 Moncton shooting that killed three RCMP officers and says the attack in Vegas brought back memories.
“I sort of felt myself going into the same mode where I just calmly gathered information from reliable sources and try not to take rumours and run away with them and just stay calm and not panic,” said Post.
“I just tried to stay in, stay safe and stay smart. I’m just grateful I guess.”
Lynne Post is flying home to Moncton tonight and says she isn’t worried about security in the city because of the increased police presence.
“I’m not worried. I’m just looking forward to getting to the airport, getting through security and getting home. That’s really it,” she said.
— With files from Shelley Steeves