A California special education teacher was among those killed during a mass shooting at the Route 91 country music festival Sunday night, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District reports. Sandra Casey was a special education teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School for nine years, according to a statement from the school district. Other employees of the middle school and school district attended the music festival but were not injured.
Just six weeks ago, Rocio Guillen Rocha gave birth to her fourth child — a baby boy named Austin. Guillen Rocha was still on maternity leave from her job as an assistant manager at a California Pizza Kitchen. Although she escaped the scene with fiancé, Chris Jaksha, Guillen Rocha later died from a gunshot wound suffered in the attack. The 40-year-old from Corona, California, had four children: 18-year-old Marcus, 13-year-old Christopher, 1-year-old Sofia and 1-month-old Austin. Guillen Rocha was raised in Anaheim and attended Katella High School, where she ran track and cross country.
Nicol Kimura and her close group of friends from Southern California had been looking forward to the Route 91 country music festival since buying their tickets nearly a year ago. The long-anticipated Las Vegas show ended in tragedy, when 38-year-old Kimura, known for her “larger than life” smile, laugh and spirit, became one of 58 victims gunned down at the show, her friend Ryan Miller told the Review-Journal Wednesday. “There were seven of us that went up together, and unfortunately, only six of us came home,” Miller said. Kimura, from Placentia, California, is survived by her parents and a sister. She worked for Orange County, Miller said. Miller set up a GoFundMe to raise money to help pay to transport Kimura’s body home, and for memorial services. The fundraiser was nearing $36,000 around 5 p.m. Wednesday. No services have been scheduled.
A Seattle resident is among those fatally wounded in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest Festival Sunday, the Washington Post has reported. Carrie Parsons graduated from Arizona State University in 2008, according to a Facebook post from the college’s alumni association Seattle chapter. She was a Washington native.
Tara Roe Smith, a model, mother and wife from Canada was one of the 58 killed in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest music festival. Statements from a modeling agency and a school where she worked in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, mourned Roe Smith. Sophia Models International, where she modeled for 10 years, described her as “a friendly face and had a very caring spirit” in a statement on their Facebook page posted late Tuesday. A GoFundMe has been created to help support Roe Smith’s husband, Zach, and their two young sons. In one day, the campaign raised more than $120,000.
Walking into Jennifer Parks’ kindergarten classroom, it was easy to tell Palmdale, California, teacher cared about her pupils. Parks was a little more than a month into her third year of teaching when she was shot and killed Sunday. Parks, who was in her early 30s, received a master’s degree in education in May. “She’s one of those kind of people you meet her and she is so enthusiastic about everything she is doing. Teaching is one of those things she was cut out to do.” said Westside Union School District Superintendent Regina Rossall.
Jack Beaton, 54, of Bakersfield, California, was killed shielding his wife from gunfire at the Route 91 Harvest music festival. Jack Beaton laid atop Laurie as gunfire erupted outside Mandalay Bay in the Sunday night attack. “He enjoyed camping, often in Pismo Beach with friends and family…” wrote Karen Sallee, whose son was Beaton’s neighbor. She described him as kind and fun-loving, and said “he could be tough talking, but inside he was soft.”
Lisa Patterson, a California mother of three, is among those killed in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Lisa Patterson lived in Lomita and volunteered in the Palos Verdes Girls Softball League, according to KPBS in Los Angeles. “Lisa had an infectious energy and fierce love for her family, and we are beyond heartbroken for Bob and their three kids,” friend Andy Tamilin wrote on the GoFundMe page.
Denise Salmon Burditus, 50, died in her husband Tony’s arms Sunday night after a gunman armed with an arsenal of rifles opened fire on the crowd of 22,000 from a 32nd-floor window at the Mandalay Bay. The high school sweethearts had been married for 32 years in a relationship that Tony said “only grew stronger” over the years. They had two kids and four grandchildren, with a fifth on the way. Tony said he and Denise regularly traveled the country with the grandchildren. Tony described Denise as a person who “always had a smile on her face.”
Bailey Schweitzer, A lifelong resident of Bakersfield, California, is among those killed in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival. Schweitzer, 20, was a receptionist at the Infinity Communications consulting company, office manager Amie Campbell confirmed Tuesday. “She tried to make everybody’s day brighter,” Campbell said. “She was a spirit that we’re never going to have at Infinity again.”
Not long before Castilla was shot and killed on Sunday in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, the 28-year-old told her brother that she wanted to serve cancer patients with her talents. For the Huntington Beach, California, resident, makeup was more than just a part of her job at Sephora. “That’s what made her really happy. Making people feel beautiful,” Athena Castilla said. “She just had such a great outlook on life.” Andrea was visiting Athena, who lives in Las Vegas, for her birthday on Friday. Andrea’s death has been made even more painful by the fact that her boyfriend was preparing to propose to her, Athena said.
Stacee Etcheber, a mother and a hair stylist from Marin County, California, is among the victims killed at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, the San Francisco Police Department confirmed Tuesday. Etcheber was with her husband Vinnie, a San Francisco police officer, at the Las Vegas music festival, according to a statement from San Francisco Police Chief William Scott. Etcheber worked at the Ciao Bella Salon in Novato, California. She had more than 20 years’ experience as a master stylist, and a loyal clientele, according to a brief biography on the salon’s website.
Construction estimator Thomas Day Jr. is among those killed in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival. Day Jr. was attending the festival Sunday with his father and four daughters when he was fatally shot, said Bruce Abbey, vice president of Portrait Construction. “He would always stand up for you,” Abbey said. “He’ll be missed.”
Pennsylvania youth sports coach Bill Wolfe Jr. is among those killed in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, authorities in his hometown confirmed Tuesday. Wolfe, a youth sports coach and 42-year-old father of two, was celebrating his 20th anniversary with his wife, Robyn, when the shooting happened. Wolfe was a Little League coach and coached the Shippensburg youth wrestling program for children in kindergarten through sixth grade, said Tony Yaniello, head coach of Shippensburg High School’s varsity wrestling team. “Some people simply live in the community, Bill lived for his community,” Yaniello told the Review-Journal.
Michelle Vo, killed in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, was remembered Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives. The 32-year-old Eagle Rock, California, woman was “an ambitious hard worker, known for her charisma and fierce independence,” according to the statement read on the House floor by Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif. A native of San Jose, California, Vo moved south after college to work in financial services for the Pasadena branch of New York Life Insurance Co. She was also a member of the LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce.
Derrick “Bo” Taylor, a California correctional lieutenant who led inmates fighting wildfires, is among those killed in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest county music festival. Taylor, was a 29-year veteran of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and celebrated his 52nd birthday on Sept. 25, confirmed department spokesman Bill Sessa. “The relationships between the officers and the inmate firefighters is much more personal,” Sessa said Taylor headed up the Ventura Conservation Camp in Camarillo. Taylor led a staff of nine, a group responsible for more than 100 inmates in coordination with Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting arm.
Adrian Murfitt, 35, is among the 59 people killed by the gunman who rained bullets onto Route 91 Harvest festival country music concert goers Sunday night. His sister, Shannon Gothard, said her brother died in his friend’s arms. A commercial fisherman, Murfitt ended his months-long fishing season in August and returned home to Anchorage, Alaska, ready for a vacation. “He had a really successful season this year and decided to go to Vegas to the concert to celebrate and treat himself,” Gothard said. Murfitt worked his first season as a commercial fisherman in high scHomhool when a teacher offered to bring him along. Gothard said she was amazed by how slim, muscular and tan the months on the boat made him.
Southern California native Melissa Ramirez is among the victims killed in Sunday’s shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, her alma mater confirmed on Tuesday. Ramirez graduated from California State University, Bakersfield, in 2014, with a degree in business administration. According to Ramirez’s Facebook page, which had been turned into a remembrance page, she was from Littlerock, California, and lived in North Hollywood.
Brian Fraser, who lived in Pomona, California, was among those killed Sunday night in the mass shooting attack at the Route 91 Harvest county music festival. Fraser worked at Greenpath, a lending partner for Southern California real estate agents. Fraser was also a coach with The Duncan Group, a mortgage sales training and consulting company. Willy Escobar knew Brian Fraser for about a year. “He was a very, very giving guy. He always spoke about his family, and always had time to help out. He was just a very selfless kind of person,” Escobar told the Review-Journal Tuesday.
Christiana Duarte, a recent University of Arizona graduate is among those killed in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, a family friend said Tuesday. Duarte, 22, was about to start a marketing job with the Los Angeles Kings hockey team “She’s such a value to this world, and this is just a tremendous loss. The things she could have accomplished,” Danette Meyers said. Duarte was the daughter of L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Michael Duarte and sister of Chicago White Sox minor league baseball player Mikey Duarte.
Steve Berger was in Las Vegas celebrating his 44th birthday, which was Saturday, when he was killed in the attack at the Route 91 Harvest music festival Sunday. Steve Berger was betting on the Wisconsin-Northwestern football game the last time his father, Richard, spoke with him. The Wisconsin native had always been a Badgers fan. “I said ‘Steve, be careful,’” Richard Berger said Tuesday. “That’s the last time I ever talked to him.” “He was so devoted to his family and his children,” Berger said. Steve Berger loved to work, his father said, but was an avid fisherman.
Dorene Anderson traveled to the Route 91 Harvest country music festival from Anchorage, Alaska. The 49-year-old was one of the concertgoers who was killed in the shooting Sunday night. In a Facebook posting, the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation — for which Anderson’s husband, John, works as research and rural development director — shared a message from her family “Due to this horrific and terrible situation, our family is dealing with a great loss. She (Dorene) was the most amazing wife, mother and person this world ever had. “
Heather Warino Alvarado, a 35-year-old mother of three, is among those killed in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival. Alvarado lived in Cedar City, Utah and came to Las Vegas to attend the three-day festival with family. Her husband, firefighter Albert Alvarado, released a statement through the Cedar City Police Department said that the couple loved traveling with her children “She always saw the good in others,” the statement read. “She spent her whole life serving others in her family and community”
Las Vegas police said Monday that at least 59 people died in the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Sunday night. Take time to remember some of the victims who are pictured here. (Zac Pacleb/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
