More than two weeks later, the country is still reeling and talking about the shooting in Las Vegas. On Oct. 2, a gunman opened fire at a country music concert at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Oct. 2 is a day I will never forget.
I woke up to a text from my boss asking me to do some quick tasks around the house, so I did not check the news like I normally do. I sat down at my desk to print some documents and opened Twitter while I waited. The first thing I saw were tweets from John Legend and Ryan Seacrest, saying thoughts and prayers were with Las Vegas. I panicked and immediately went to CNN to see the news; I was heartbroken.
I was born in Las Vegas, my parents lived there for a few years until a few months after I was born. My grandparents and aunt moved there when I was four years old. We have relatives and family friends that are still there. My family visits there every few years. Although I only lived in Las Vegas for a few months as a newborn, it is still the place that I come from, a place that I hold near and dear to my heart.
The place that I call home suffered a similar tragic attack back in 2009 when a gunman opened fire at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, N.Y. I remember being in school and being put on lockdown just in case. That was my first encounter with mass tragedy.
Las Vegas was different though. Seeing the hospital that you were born at, Sunrise Hospital, shown and doctors from that hospital speaking on CNN is a mind-boggling experience. Not knowing whether your extended family was anywhere near the concert, thankfully they were not as we would find out later that night. Finding out that my parent’s friend, whom my brother and I call our uncle, was in that area an hour before the shooting. Seeing the footage of a place
that you know so well, have felt safe in and have visited plenty of times before. All of it makes you feel overwhelmed with emotion yet numb at the same time.
The largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, in a place you know, a place you come from. It’s shocking, it’s mind-boggling, it’s horrifying, it’s heartbreaking. It makes you want action. It makes you want the government to finally move forward, stop making excuses and do something. I was fortunate enough that all of my family and friends out there were safe, I can only imagine the pain of those who were not so lucky. The pain that they have lost people whom they love and that a city they love has had to go through this pain and tragedy.
The thought that next time it will be a special place to another person, another city that people identify with and call home. It is scary to think. It makes me, and many others, want action.