A group of six Castlegar residents were among those sitting in the stands at a country music festival in Las Vegas when a gunman opened fire.
Jo-Ann Bursey, a realtor, was part of the group and describes what happened that night.
鈥淲e were sitting in the bleachers 鈥� watching Jason Aldean 鈥� he was the last act that played for the night 鈥� and heard some, what I thought was, fireworks,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 looked above 鈥� all of us did, it was a group of eight of us 鈥� and we looked up and we just went, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 not fireworks.鈥� The music stopped and the shots started again.鈥�
Bursey鈥檚 group was separated but managed to meet up later. They hid underneath the bleachers and heard more shots.
鈥淭hen it was just mayhem. Everybody鈥檚 running and trying to take cover, not knowing. You could tell the shots were up high, then the sound changed and it just got louder, and we were running across the parking lot, hiding in between the tents for some of the booths that were there,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e got out by a 鈥� parkade and sat down on the ground behind a cement wall and then managed to get into the Excalibur, where they ushered tons of people through and then we sat in the lobby on the floor for a while. Then we were on lockdown until 4:30 in the morning.鈥�
Bursey and her group were staying at the Luxor Hotel & Casino, across the street from the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where the shooter, Stephen Craig Paddock, was firing from a room on the 32nd floor.
Bursey and her group had eaten dinner at the Mandalay earlier in the evening.
鈥淚t was pretty surreal,鈥� said Bursey, who was making her way back to Castlegar Tuesday morning. 鈥淐an鈥檛 wait 鈥� going to kiss the Canadian ground when I get back in a couple of hours.鈥�
Six of the people in Bursey鈥檚 group, including herself, were from Castlegar and two were from Texas. None of them was injured, but they ended up looking after a Las Vegas girl while they were fleeing.
鈥淲e kind of put her underneath our wing and took her with us because she was by herself and she had two friends. But I鈥檝e been in touch with her since we got out of Vegas 鈥� we got out of Vegas last night 鈥� and two of her friends did die,鈥� said Bursey.
鈥淚t was pretty traumatic, so we had her spend the night in lockdown with us and then took her back to our hotel 鈥� once they allowed us to go back in 鈥� and just ensured that she got home safely.鈥�
Bursey also met an elderly woman who had been injured.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking at her and I say, 鈥楢re you OK? You have some blood on your shoulder,鈥� and she said, 鈥榊eah, I got shot.鈥欌��
Bursey asked to take a look and found that the woman鈥檚 shoulder had been glazed by shrapnel. Bursey told her she needed to get looked at, but the woman replied, 鈥楾here are more people hurt more than I am. I will be OK.鈥�
Bursey brought the woman to the attention of security to make sure she got help.
More than 500 people were wounded, and 59 people were killed in what鈥檚 considered the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Paddock was found dead by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department SWAT team when they breached his hotel room.
