A British soldier who rushed to the aid of those injured in the Las Vegas massacre has been hailed by his brother for ‘keeping America safe’.
Ross Woodward, 24, had been enjoying a trip to the US gambling capital with other off-duty troops when carnage unfolded on Sunday night.
As bullets rained down on an open-air concert from a gunman’s nest high above, the soldier, from 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, turned towards danger.
Along with two other soldiers with whom he had been travelling, he helped tend to the wounded and shepherd people to safety.
Ross Woodward, 24, pictured, had been enjoying a trip to the US gambling capital with other off-duty troops when carnage unfolded on Sunday night
His younger brother Curtis Dyer, 22, pictured left, said the actions reflected the character of his sibling, pictured right
First responders and bystanders carry an injured person to an emergency station located at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave – one block north of the shooting
Hundreds of rounds of automatic gunfire were reported by witnesses on the scene; one woman in the Mandalay Bay said that there was a shooter on the 32nd floor, and that they had killed a security guard
His younger brother Curtis Dyer, 22, said the actions reflected the character of his sibling, who is originally from Beeston, Nottinghamshire, and had been training in the US with the British Army.
Mr Dyer said: ‘He is the type of the person who would do it anyway, he’s always there to help people when they need his help.
‘The Army always brought out the best in him. He’s caring, he loves his job, he’s quite family-orientated.
‘He just looks forward to going away with the army, he looks forward to the free time afterwards, as you can imagine the Army work their balls off to protect us. It’s just like it happened by fate.’
Mr Woodward now lives on a base in Norfolk.
Bystanders on the Las Vegas Strip come to terms with what they’ve seen after the brutal shooting
His composure in the face of an attack which left 59 dead and more than 500 injured filled his relative with pride.
‘I’m dead proud of what he’s done, that he was able to do it,’ Mr Dyer said.
‘At least when it came to something like that he was there to help. Britain’s keeping America safe more than anything else over there.’
Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged the heroism of the three soldiers on Tuesday, saying she would like to ‘thank them for what they did’.
People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground after the shooting. One person can be seen with a shirt draped over their face; it’s not clear if they are dead
But for Mr Dyer, news that his brother had been at the centre of the deadliest mass shooting in US history came as more of a shock.
‘I just got a message off him saying he was fine – I hadn’t even had a clue what had gone on,’ he said.
‘I turned the news on and obviously there had been an attack in Las Vegas.
‘I knew he was away with the Army and he did a trip in America – they did one last year and they did it again this year – and I think he was getting some free time.
The wounded were rushed to waiting ambulances on anything that concert-goers could find, including a wheelbarrow
‘He said everything was fine and I said, ‘What the hell wrong with?’ and he told me.
‘He just said that he helped the injured and to get people to safety and that was it really.
‘He’s fine as far as I’m aware now.’
The Ministry of Defence confirmed three off-duty soldiers from the regiment, known as the Welsh Cavalry, had helped in the aftermath of the attack.
The trio had been on leave after a desert training exercise in Nevada at the time.