Las Vegas shooting survivors break into applause for officers – VIDEO
Four hours after the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting, hundreds of survivors suddenly broke into applause while taking shelter inside the Tropicana Las Vegas.
It happened the moment Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived to deliver an update that the crowd had long awaited: The attack was over, and the shooter was dead.
Some stood up. Others said, “Thank you.” It was all captured on Metro body camera footage that was released for the first time Wednesday.
The video opens as Metro Sgt. Ashton Packe weaves through a crowd of about 1,500. Many of the people are draped in white blankets.
Packe would later document the scene in a report, which the department previously released.
“Several guests were highly distraught, as they had family members at the concert who had been shot and transported to the hospital,” he wrote.
So Packe picked up a bullhorn and did his best to ease the crowd.
“I’m terribly sorry about tonight,” he said as onlookers quieted and listened. “We have no control over the actions of evil people, but we’re here now. We’re going to try to make you as comfortable as possible in this very crappy situation.”
Packe said officers were working on a plan for what to do next, and he told the crowd that “everything is for the most part safe again.”
“I appreciate your response when we came in the room,” he continued. “Thank you so much for coming to our city. We’re sorry this happened. We hope you can come back some day and enjoy a great weekend.”
Several people shouted “thank you” as the crowd applauded again.
Packe wrote in his report, “Prior to, and after addressing the crowd, they gave my team and other officers a standing ovation. After speaking to them I could see they were calm and appreciative of the update.”
The video of Packe’s speech was one of 17 that Metro made public Wednesday. It marked the 24th court-ordered release since early May of police records from the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting, which left 58 concertgoers dead and hundreds more injured.
Two of the newest videos began while the mass shooting was underway.
Police previously released more than 3,000 pages of witness statements and officer reports, as well as 911 calls and other body camera footage. A Las Vegas Review-Journal examination of those records found that many officers experienced communication problems during the mass shooting response.
The newspaper and other media organizations sued for the records in the days after the shooting. Metro said it will release another batch next week.
Contact Harrison Keely at hkeely@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0218. Follow @harrisonkeely on Twitter. Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Henry Brean contributed to this story.
