White crosses stand at the edge of Las Vegas, bearing the names of the 58 people slain in the deadliest mass shooting in US modern history, taking place exactly one year ago.
Marking the anniversary of the night that a gunman opened fire from a suite inside a high rise casino on a crowd of 22,000 country music fans, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval gathered with several hundred people at an outdoor amphitheater at sunrise remembrance ceremony.
‘Today we remember the unforgettable. Today, we comfort the inconsolable,’ Sandoval told survivors , families of victims, first-responders and elected officials who gathered at dawn.
‘Today, we are reminded of the pain that never really goes away.’
Stephen Paddock fired rifles for 11 minutes from 32nd-floor windows of the Mandalay Bay hotel into the concert crowd below at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on October 1, 2017.
Authorities say they will likely never be able to determine what it was that turned high-limit video poker player into a mass murderer who killed so many in the crowd before taking his own life.
White crosses stand at the edge of Las Vegas, bearing the names of the 58 people slain in the deadliest mass shooting in US modern history, taking place exactly one year ago; Avalynn Briggs, 7, of Washington is pictured here looking on as her mother Nichole Briggs writes a note on a cross set up for shooting victim Melissa Ramirez on Monday
The city has marked the anniversary with a string of events in the days surrounding October 1.
At 10:01pm on Monday, one year to the minute after the shooting began, the lights on gleaming marquees will dim along the Strip.
The gesture is one more tribute in a way only Las Vegas can give, following more impromptu, individualized tributes on Monday where people gathered, embraced and prayed.
Then, as always, the city will move forward once again.
People embraced and prayed on Sunday at a makeshift memorial for victims of the October 1, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas
Leading up to Monday night’s dimming of the lights, crosses again covered the area on the outskirts of Vegas, where what doubles as a welcome sign on the reverse reads, ‘Drive carefully, come back soon,’ to those on their way out of town.
The original handmade white crosses for each victim that originally were placed near the ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ now reside in the Clark County Government Center in neighboring Henderson, but some new ones were brought out for the anniversary.
Retired carpenter Greg Zanis, who installed 58 crosses last year – one for each of the victims of the shooting – set up the memorial again with new crosses for the anniversary of the massacre.
A flag with the hashtag ‘#Honor58’ flew over the crosses on Monday.
First responders and others unfolded an American flag following a prayer service during the one-year anniversary tribute to those who died.
A flag with the hashtag ‘#Honor58’ flew over the crosses in Las Vegas on Monday
First responders and others unfolded an American flag on Monday following a prayer service during the one-year anniversary tribute to those who died on October 1, 2017
Those in attendance worked together to spread out The Stars and Stripes in all its glory
Jann Blake (pictured), who saw bullets hit the ground near her when she attended the country music festival last year, cried during the prayer service on Monday
Jann Blake, who saw bullets hit the ground near her when she attended the country music festival last year, cried during the prayer service on Monday.
‘We needed this closure,’ Blake said. ‘It’s been a heavy year.’
A heart shaped tribute was erected nearby, featuring photos of those who lost their lives in the merciless attack.
David Maldonado began putting it together on Sunday.
A closeup photo of the images within the heart structure show the faces of family members and loved ones, gone too soon but not forgotten, memorialized in individual frames.
A heart shaped tribute was erected nearby, featuring photos of those who lost their lives in the merciless attack on October 1, 2017; David Maldonado began putting it together on Sunday
A closeup photo of the images within the heart structure show the faces of family members and loved ones, gone too soon but not forgotten, memorialized in individual frames
David Maldonado is seen here on Sunday assembling the heart-shaped structure at a makeshift memorial for victims of the October 1, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas
Crosses again covered the area on the outskirts of Vegas, where what doubles as a welcome sign on the reverse reads, ‘Drive carefully, come back soon,’ to those on their way out of town; Ashley Schuck of Nevada kneels at the cross bearing the name of Nyesa Davis Tonks, a 46-year-old mother-of-three
The Mandalay Bay hotel was the scene of the the worst mass shooting in modern US history when Stephen Paddock killed 58 people at a country music festival in 2017
Early on Monday, a flock of doves fluttered skyward at sunrise, with each bird bearing a leg band with the name of one of the people murdered.
Among those who offered prayers, songs and speeches at that service was Mynda Smith, whose sister Nyesa Davis Tonks was killed by Paddock.
Mynda Smith said her sister, who pronounced her name ‘Neesha,’ was a 46-year-old single mother raising three boys in Las Vegas.
Several hundred people gathered at an outdoor amphitheater at sunrise remembrance ceremony on Monday, at dawn
‘Today we remember the unforgettable. Today, we comfort the inconsolable,’ Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval told those in attendance
Debbie and Chris Davis (center), parents of Las Vegas victim Neysa Tonks, embracing during the Sunrise Remembrance service on the first anniversary of the Las Vegas mass shooting at Clark County Government Center Amphitheater in Las Vegas on Monday
Smith called her sister energetic, adventurous, a fan of all kinds of music and a person who danced when no one was watching.
Smith started a scholarship fund for victims’ children and said she reached out to loved ones of almost all the dead.
‘None of us will ever be the same,’ Smith said. ‘We have all changed. We have all been broken. But we can find a way to pick up those pieces and glue it all back together. Yes, the cracks will be seen. But it can be whole again and we will be stronger.’
Jim Murren, the chief executive and CEO of MGM Resorts International, issued a statement calling the shooting ‘an unforgettable act of terror;’ MGM owns the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the gunman was when he opened fire into an outdoor concert crowd below
Schuck is seen here placing a medal she got for running for shooting victim Neysa Tonks in Saturday’s Vegas Strong 5K on a cross set up for Tonks on October 1 in Las Vegas
Richard Magana of California writes a note on a cross set up for shooting victim Stacee Etcheber on October 1 in Las Vegas
Retired carpenter Greg Zanis, who installed 58 crosses last year – one for each of the victims of the shooting – set up the memorial again with new crosses for the anniversary of the massacre; Four members of American Medical Response are pictured looking at the crosses
Christie Kraemer, a Las Vegas real estate agent who wasn’t at the concert but knew people who were, said ‘I never want October 1 to happen again. But I love October 2 because of the way everyone came together.’
Shooting survivors Chris and Larisa Rapanick of Chesapeake, Virginia, made the trip to Las Vegas for weekend events including a 5K run, a country music club show and a reunion of survivors on Saturday. At the sunrise service, they stood with their two adult daughters.
‘We weren’t going to let this ruin a place we like to come to,’ Chris Rapanick said. ‘I’m glad to be standing here.’
Ashley Schuck also participated in the Vegas Strong 5K race, afterwards placing the medal she got for running on the cross set up for Tonks.
Flowers and a patch are shown on the ground by a display of the 58 crosses on Monday, with the patch reading, ‘Veas Strong, 10-1-17, one city, one heart,’ and ‘battle born’
White crosses bearing the names of the victims were put up in memory of the 58 killed in Las Vegas to mark the first anniversary of the massacre
In this September 25 photo, people look at a display of wooden crosses and a Star of David on display at the Clark County Government Center in Las Vegas; The crosses pictured here and Star of David had been part of a makeshift memorial along the Las Vegas Strip erected in memory of the victims of the October 1, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo recalled the chaos and confusion of the shooting, and the prayers to ‘heal broken hearts,’ blood banks filled with donors and ‘acts of kindness that comforted the suffering’ that followed.
‘When the sun rose the next morning, grief turned to anger, anger turned to resolve and resolve turned to action,’ Lombardo said.
Many who were cheering Jason Aldean’s headline set on at the Route 91 Harvest Festival late on October 1, 2017 , said later they thought the rapid crack-crack-crack they heard was fireworks, until people fell dead, wounded, and bleeding.
The Rapanicks heard bullets hitting a canvas awning near them as they fled and saw a shot hit a plastic cup that flipped in the air.
Medical examiners later determined that all 58 deaths were from gunshots. Another 413 people were wounded, and police said at least 456 were injured fleeing the carnage.
Stephen Paddock (pictured) opened fire on the Route 91 country music festival from his room at the Mandalay Bay hotel before killing himself on October 1, 2017, police say
Lombardo declared the police investigation over in August, issuing a report that said hundreds of interviews and thousands of hours of investigative work could not provide answers to what made Paddock unleash his hail of gunfire.
That has left unanswered the question of why a 64-year-old former accountant, real estate investor, small plane pilot and high-limit video poker player assembled his arsenal and attack the concert crowd.
Paddock was characterized by police as having no religious or political affiliations. Authorities said he became obsessed with guns, spent more than $1.5 million in the two years before the shooting and distanced himself from his girlfriend and family.
Paddock’s gambling habits made him a sought-after casino patron. Over several days, Mandalay Bay employees readily let him use a service elevator to take suitcases to the $590-per-night suite he had been provided for free.
The room had a commanding view of the Strip and the concert grounds across the street. After breaking out windows, Paddock fired 1,057 shots in 11 minutes, police have said.
‘One year ago, our community suffered an unforgettable act of terror. We share the sorrow of those who mourn and continue to search for meaning in events that lie beyond our understanding,’ Murren said
Jim Murren, the chief executive and CEO of MGM Resorts International, issued a statement calling the shooting ‘an unforgettable act of terror.’ MGM owns the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the gunman was when he opened fire into an outdoor concert crowd below on the Las Vegas Strip.
‘One year ago, our community suffered an unforgettable act of terror. We share the sorrow of those who mourn and continue to search for meaning in events that lie beyond our understanding,’ Murren said.
‘October 1 will forever be a day of remembrance, reflection and mourning as we struggle to comprehend the incomprehensible – the senseless act of evil that caused such a tragic loss of life, along with the suffering that we know continues.’
‘October 1 will forever be a day of remembrance, reflection and mourning as we struggle to comprehend the incomprehensible – the senseless act of evil that caused such a tragic loss of life, along with the suffering that we know continues,’ Murren said