Two British heroes saved dozens of people in the Las Vegas shooting after he stumbled on the massacre as he went from an evening stroll.
Soldier Stuart Finlay and firefighter Tony Dumbleton were both in the Nevada resort when Stephen Paddock opened fire on Sunday, leaving 59 people dead and more than 500 injured.
Mr Dumbleton was on a dream holiday travelling across America with his wife, Lucy, both aged 43.
The couple, from Exhall, near Coventry, were staying at the MGM Grand hotel when he went for an evening walk and heard shooting coming from the Mandalay Bay nearby.
Soldier Stuart Finlay (left) and firefighter Tony Dumbleton (right, with his wife, Lucy) were both in the Nevada resort when Stephen Paddock opened fire on Sunday, leaving 59 people dead and more than 500 injured
Mr Dumbleton, a firefighter for Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, sprinted towards the shooting and dragged dozens of victims to nearby hotels.
He said: ‘People were running past, shouting and screaming there was a gunman.
‘I ran past them to see if there was anything I could do. One man I found had been shot in the shoulder.
‘I took him back to the MGM where hotel paramedics had set up a triage area. The paramedics were two young girls and had two first aid kits between them.
‘I have first aid training and helped this man and then there was another also who had been shot through the shoulder.
‘There was also another who had been shot straight through his ankle. It was horrendous.
‘The paramedics tried to stop me using some of the bandages but I just took them and said ‘there’s people dying here’.
‘We had to rush the casualties out because we thought someone else was coming. People were hiding behind columns in the hotel, wherever they could.
People scramble over barriers to get to safety as the gunfire rages on at the Las Vegas event
An investigator is seen on Wednesday peering through one of the windows that Paddock smashed so he could open fire on the crowd
‘We moved the casualties out of the way in case a gunman was coming. I then ran back to grab the first aid kits, we had to have the oxygen and bandages.
‘The paramedics took at least an hour to arrive. We were trying to find people with cars so they could take the injured to hospital.
‘One guy called Chris was deteriorating badly after he had been shot straight though his shoulder, but when the stampede started I lost him and now I don’t know where he went.
‘I feel bad because I promised I’d look after him. Now I’m just keeping an eye on the news praying nothing bad happened to him.’
The couple, who have three children, had been to San Francisco and Los Angeles in their first trip to America and were ending their tour with a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.
It was a second frightening holiday experience to hit the family in a matter of weeks.
Their daughter Lorigh, 24, was in the Dominican Republic and forced to shelter in a bathroom from Hurricane Irma for two days.
Mr Dumbleton said: ‘It has definitely been a bad year for holidays for our family.
Investigators are still processing the festival site-turned-crime scene. The FBI warned in the press conference on Wednesday that it would be some time before all of the evidence that was being collected was properly examined
‘We have had enough. Lucy won’t even leave the hotel. This is our first and last time in America.
‘I have dealt with a lot of trauma during my time in the fire service but never gunshot wounds.
‘It’s different because in the fire service you can be called to an incident that’s traumatic but then finding yourself in one, it’s surreal.’
Trooper Finlay, of 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, turned 25 on Friday and was celebrating with fellow soldiers over the weekend, his father revealed.
But the much-anticipated Vegas getaway, taken while on leave from military training, was sickeningly derailed when a concert came under heavy gunfire on Sunday.
The father-of-one from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, left an evening meal near the Nevada strip to find a bloodbath – and darted towards danger with two other troops.
The trio, which also included 24-year-old Trooper Ross Woodward, remain under Army orders not to discuss the ordeal publicly, but Trooper Finlay’s father Kev shared his son’s account.
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
The 48-year-old utility worker said: ‘He walked out of a place into everything unfolding in front of him.
‘There were bodies around them as he was putting pressure on someone that had been shot in the back, then they helped others.
‘He said they could hear (the gunfire) from where they were.’
With many emergency services pinned down by a relentless hail of bullets, the off-duty troops helped marshal people to safety until paramedics and police arrived.
‘There wasn’t enough ambulances to casualties so they stayed with anyone they could to help and comfort them,’ Mr Finlay said.
‘None of them hesitated … they just ran into it and did what they could.
‘I think the training came instinctively to the lads and (being) the type of people they are in themselves, they put no thoughts to their own safety to help others.’
The troops’ actions that night won acclaim from the Prime Minister, who thanked them for their efforts earlier this week.
They had been training in California with the regiment, known as the Welsh Cavalry, in the weeks leading up to the attack.
Lombardo said Paddock fired ‘over 200’ rounds through these doors when he spotted a security guard approaching the room. Miraculously, the guard was only injured, and was able to tell police exactly where Paddock was
Crowds began to flee the scene as gunfire rang out at the 30,000-strong music festival is attacked. At first crowds didn’t seem to know what was happening
Trooper Finlay, who rose into the army after joining the TA, left behind his infant daughter Amelie, just six months old, to take up the opportunity overseas.
He had been relishing the trip to Las Vegas, according to his father, but had been more reluctant to get into the birthday spirit.
‘He said his mates forced him to celebrate,’ Mr Finlay said.
‘It’s a place he’s wanted to visit while he’s over there and he’s your typical soldier.’
The group are now expected to return to camp in California before flying back to the UK.
Referring to the emotional toll Sunday’s mass shooting might have taken on his son, Mr Finlay said: ‘He said he’s OK, but I’m not to sure it’s kicked in yet what he saw or did.
‘They’re all good mates and I think they’ve had loads of support from the base too.’
Initially the Chester-based father was filled with panic about his son’s safety when he saw the worst shooting in modern US history unfold on television.
‘I was panicking inside fearing the worst and when I couldn’t get in touch with him my head was all over the place, once I found out what he did I can’t describe the feeling of pride and so much relief.
‘It’s mad to think my son was one of them there helping and trying to save lives, it’s a mad feeling I well up inside when I talk about it and hear things.
‘I know it’s his job and he loves what he does but I do have such a relief when he’s home.’