A three-day country music concert in Las Vegas turned into a desperate run for his life for Inuvik’s Tony McDonald.
Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
“It was more or less like a war zone, the way it felt,” McDonald said. “Just run, that’s it. Run as far and as fast as you can.”
He had been attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival, which became the site of one of the largest mass shootings in North American history when Stephen Paddock murdered 58 people and injured hundreds more from a nearby hotel window Oct. 1.
“We were at the Jason Aldean concert,” recalls McDonald. “I didn’t really care for the concert that much, so I asked buddy to go for a smoke. We stepped off to the side to give us some room. We were still watching the concert and I thought I heard fireworks, but I looked up and there were no fireworks. That’s when I started running and we started running with everyone.”
That was only the beginning of the desperation, as McDonald spent the next several hours running between hotels and trying to find a safe space, but he was repeatedly told there were multiple shooters or the hotels were on lockdown and he had to find a new place.
After splitting up with his friend, McDonald eventually stopped a vehicle, which he, another man and some women jumped into.
“We just told him get us as far away as he can,” said McDonald.
After more bouncing between hotels, a SWAT team finally escorted McDonald to the hotel he was staying in, The Excalibur.
He got in his room at about 6 a.m. the next morning.
“We had a nap and we hit the highway by 12 p.m., 1 p.m. maybe we were on the highway back north,” said McDonald.
But even getting to Edmonton after two days didn’t relieve all of the fear and stress.
McDonald recalls standing in West Edmonton Mall and looking around on edge, watching the people around him.
“Just thinking of escape plans in case something else happened again,” he said. “I’m kind of nervous around large crowds right now.”
The experience shook him.
“I haven’t been sleeping too much,” said McDonald. “I’ve just been really restless and on edge since I got back. It hasn’t gone away yet.”
He’s been replaying the events in his mind constantly since.
“It’s all that goes through my mind, how it could have been different if something else happened,” said McDonald.
In some ways, it’s changed his perspective.
“When I was at the concert, you never think this kind of stuff would ever happen to you, and then it started happening,” he said. “It’s almost like it never happened yet. It’s not real. It feels fake to me. Feels like it was a dream or something.”
He doesn’t even want to leave Inuvik again, at least not for a while.
“I don’t think I’ll be travelling anywhere too soon,” said McDonald.