Tragedy Strikes in Las Vegas
This past Monday a tragedy occurred that shocked and overwhelmed many people. A shooter opened fire at a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some students from MHS had the experience of being near Las Vegas close to the time the shooting took place.
“It was really scary being there just after it happened,” Junior Aiden Garner said.
The students were shocked when they got word of the attack.
“You always hear about these things but you never really expect to be that close to it,” Garner said.
While the tragedy of what happened reached many homes and families, those not affected stepped up to help when needed.
“Random citizens were picking up people and carrying them to their cars and taking as many people as they could fit in their cars and taking them to the hospital,” Junior Katie Angel said.
With ambulances running to and from the scene into the early hours of the morning, those who could lend a hand, did.
“Everyone was trying to help and it was cool to see how many people were helping each other out and how people can really come together in a time of tragedy,” Angel said.
Mr. Forbes was also in Las Vegas at the time and shared his thoughts on the matter.
“I was visiting my parents who live in Las Vegas over spud harvest. As most of you know, there was a terrible event where 59 were killed and over 500 injured by a man perched in a hotel shooting guns at a country music concert.
When I heard the news, I immediately wanted to make sure I could do my part to help those who were suffering. That day, I spent 6 hours at a blood bank, waiting outside with 1000+ people in order to donate blood for those hundreds suffering in the hospitals from the shooting. It was a humbling experience as I witnessed all of these people gathering together to do what they could to help strangers in need.
Words can’t describe the feelings I felt as I talked with the people around me and got to know them and hear why they were there and how they were affected. Or as I saw the countless businesses, vendors, and religious groups buying and offering food and water to everyone all day. Everyone was so nice, concerned, and prayerful for the victims. So many were affected. My family has friends in the hospital suffering from bullet wounds obtained at the concert.
I was ashamed to come home after such an amazing experience and read many of the posts and comments I saw on social media. These poor souls who lost their lives, with all of their families and friends affected, have not even been gone from this world for a day, and many are already treating them as empty corpses, ready to be filled with their political agendas. Can we not have time to mourn before you spew your nonsense that is irrelevant to this tragedy?
I am also saddened by how cynical this country has become in their attitude towards how some people deal with tragedy. Not everyone has the ability to help. Sometimes, all we can do is pray for those affected. I don’t care if you are not religious, but there are many people that truly believe that this helps. We need to come together in these hard times, not try and continue the narrative that we need to fight those that are different from us. I hope that through this experience, we can all come together in love, rather than finding what separates us to help drive a wedge further in this already divided country,” Mr. Forbes said.
