Rising Strong After Route 91

After an amazing experience at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in 2016, Kelsey convinced her best friend, Veronica, to return with her the next year. A group of six — including Kelsey’s sister, Veronica’s husband Chad, and two friends from Orange County — made the trip to Las Vegas the weekend of the festival, September 29 to October 1, 2017. Late Sunday night, while country star Jason Aldean was giving the closing performance, a gunman opened fire on the crowd. Today, Kelsey and Veronica are survivors, using their hurt to help others heal.

Before the trip, Veronica had booked hotel rooms close to the concert venue, but at the last minute, the plans changed. “A friend offered a free timeshare just two miles away,” said Veronica. “So we cancelled the hotel reservation.” The condo offered a restful reprieve from the Vegas strip. On Sunday morning, October 1, the women sat down to relax and work through a Bible study together. “It was an amazing weekend, and this was just the start to another perfect day,” Veronica recalled.

Before heading out to the concert, Kelsey splurged and bought extra pizza and more water. “They were giving me a hard time, saying I bought enough food and drinks to feed 20,” said Kelsey. “But I didn’t care. The whole weekend was perfect. I got caught up in the excitement.”

On the final night of the festival, the group ran into more friends from Orange County and stopped to talk about 30 feet from the stage. “Before Jason Aldean took the stage, we were standing and talking to our friends,” said Kelsey. Suddenly, the concert crowds shifted, clearing a path toward the stage. “We moved up closer. I thought it would be fun up near the stage on our last night.”

They said goodbye to their group of friends and moved to within 15 feet of the stage. At 10:05 PM, the gunfire started.

Most people in the crowd didn’t understand what was happening at first. “I heard crackling noises and thought firecrackers were going off,” said Veronica. “I looked around and saw people spreading out and clearing away. Then I saw someone fall. That’s when I realized it was gunfire. At first, I dropped to the ground for cover, too. But my husband, a deputy sheriff, knew from his training that the gunfire was coming from above. He wrapped his arms around me and hurried toward an exit, away from the direction of the hotels and the gunfire.”

“When the crowd began to part after the gunfire started, I just froze,” Kelsey recalled. “It took me much longer to respond.” Lying on the ground with no cover and nothing to hide behind, Kelsey looked around to find Veronica’s husband. “As a deputy, I knew he would know what to do. I quickly decided that whatever Chad was doing, I was going to do.” Kelsey scanned the crowd and spotted him and Veronica. “When I saw my sister moving in the same direction, I ran that way, too.”

Veronica and Chad were one of the first groups to get out of the 15-acre concert lot and stumbled across an empty ride-sharing car. Sensing the panic and seeing waves of people running for cover, Veronica jumped into survivor mode. “There were several of us huddled behind the sedan, so I yelled for everyone to get in,” said Veronica. With a calm yet commanding voice of authority, Chad took the wheel while the driver piled in the back with the others. “I squeezed in with eight strangers, but we had one thing in common; everyone was separated from a loved one, their parents, a husband or wife.”

Kelsey was separated from the group and navigating the chaos alone. “I was witnessing panic firsthand,” explained Kelsey, “I just wanted to get as far away from the gunshots as fast possible.”

Kelsey took cover with complete strangers. “I was near an injured woman. Something just clicked; I realized I was OK, but this woman was not. That’s when I began to reach out and help others.”

Kelsey grabbed a jacket and began applying pressure to her wound. She convinced a guy with a truck to take her to a hospital. Back on the move, she found people frozen with fear and bunkered down behind a cement divider, an open gate just few feet away. “I ran to each of them, telling them to get up and get out,” said Kelsey. “When we all reached the safety of an airport hangar, I prayed publicly — something I’m not used to doing — and offered my support to others.”

Long after the shooting started and throughout the night, people streamed into the rented condo. “Our core group of friends were together again, and we immediately bonded with the other survivors and their families, too,” said Veronica. “By early morning, 20 of us had crowded into our small condo. We felt blessed that we had a safe place to go. And thanks to Kelsey, there was plenty of pizza and water.”

Early Monday morning, they packed up and headed home — bringing the horrific memory of the previous night along with them. There were 45 Orange County Sheriff’s employees in attendance at Route 91. Understanding the importance of trauma counseling, the department sent a specialist to each of their homes. Veronica invited all her friends to join them.

“More than anything, the counselor validated our emotions,” said Veronica. “She spoke about depression and triggers and what to expect in the recovery process. My perspective on life has changed, but through prayer and support I learned to create a new normal.”

Veronica and Kelsey knew they were not alone; there had to be others at Saddleback and in South Orange County who were hurting or suffering and didn’t know where to turn. “So many people were asking questions about faith and looking to God for the answers to‘why me?’” said Kelsey. “Social media was offering survivors an outlet, but you don’t heal through the internet. You heal through human connection. We felt the church was a perfect place to help with the recovery process.”

“We had so much: our faith, each other, and the counseling services. We wanted to create space to support and provide resources to survivors through our church community,” explained Veronica. The women embraced their mission and worked closely with the pastoral-care staff at Saddleback to plan and promote a Route 91 Healing night at the Lake Forest campus. They used social media to reach a broader community and were encouraged by the large and caring response. Nearly 200 people attended the event, a spiritual evening that offered hope and healing.

The Sheriff’s Department sent their trauma counselor to speak about coping skills — not just for survivors, but for anyone interested in learning tools to help those who have suffered traumatic events. “When people are going through painful times, most people don’t know how to respond,” said Veronica, “so they don’t say anything at all. It’s really important to acknowledge the hurt, to validate their feelings.”

The depth of humanity is what drives Kelsey in her efforts to help other survivors. “Route 91 was a horrific situation,” said Kelsey. “I saw the absolute worst that night in Vegas, but I also saw the absolute best when people responded with love and compassion. I witnessed greatness in people; no one cared about race, gender, or sexual orientation — they just cared about each other. It was amazing to see raw humanity; bonding and selfless and capable of love.”

Within a 15-minute timeframe, more than 1,100 rifle rounds had been fired, killing 58 people and injuring more than 850 others, making this the deadliest mass shooting by one individual in the United States.

“We may never know why a gunman opened fire on the festival audience,” said Kelsey. “When we left our OC friends to move near the stage, three of them were shot. It’s crazy. That simple decision to move a few feet could have been the difference between life and death for us. If I can see God’s hand in this situation, I can only imagine where else he is working.”

Surviving Route 91 left Veronica with a new perspective on life. “Before Vegas, my life was fairly basic, but after October 1, God has shown me how precious life is,” said Veronica. “I truly believe we were spared the absolute horror others endured so we can help our fellow survivors. We were meant to do great things in his name.”

Learn how you can use your SHAPE to help and serve others saddleback.com/class301.