Melissa Castruita, pictured, survived the 2015 massacre in San Bernardino, California, and was in the festival crowd on October 1 during the shooting that left 59 dead in Las Vegas
A woman who survived the massacre in San Bernardino, California, in 2015 was in the crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on October 1 during the shooting that left 58 people dead in Las Vegas.
Melissa Castruita was in the VIP area near the stage singing along to Jason Aldean when the shots came pouring out of the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, according to the LA Times.
She sent a text to her fiance, J.C. Monticone, 36, that read: ‘Active shooter.’
Those were the same two words she texted him on December 2, 2015, when two people shot up her workplace in San Bernardino, California.
She never thought she’d be unlucky enough to be in the center of a mass shooting, let alone two separate times in two years.
On October 1 gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, killing 58 and injuring almost 500 in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history
On December 2, 2015, a terrorist duo shot up a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, during a holiday party, killing 14 and injuring 21 others
During both shootings, Castruita texted her fiance, J.C. Monticone, ‘Active shooter’. Monticone is pictured holding the phone that shows the text messages during the attack in Las Vegas
A terrorist duo killed 14 people and injured 21 others during a holiday party held at the Inland Regional Center where Castruita worked in San Bernardino.
The shooters were identified as Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik. They were killed in a shootout with the police after they fled the scene.
Almost two years later, she experienced the most deadly shooting in American history when gunman Stephen Paddock killed 58 and wounded almost 500 others on Sunday in Las Vegas.
Castruita was celebrating her 34th birthday at the festival, according to the LA Times.
She had tickets for the VIP section but had arrived later than planned and missed out on getting seats in the outdoor arena.
Her aunt and cousin considered going into the pit area, but it was crowded. Ever since her experience with the San Bernardino shooting, Castruita had been nervous in large crowds.
She remembered driving to the Inland Regional Center on December 2 after the gunfire had started, knowing people had been shot and killed at the site where she worked.
A week after that shooting, nobody could go back into the building, so Castruita and Monticone decided to go to Disneyland.
The crowds at the park overwhelmed her to the point that they had to leave.
After the Vegas shooting, the two managed to meet up at the MGM Grand, where they hugged the same way they did when Monticone found Castruita after the San Bernardino shooting
Not long after the San Bernardino shooting she was out running and saw a man with a hand in his pocket. She panicked, wondering if he had a gun.
She told the LA Times that by the time this year’s Route 91 Harvest festival came around, she was feeling better about being in crowded spaces and her gun-paranoia had subsided.
And then bullets rained down on the crowd.
Upon receiving Castruita’s text about the shooter, Monticone ran out of the Luxor Casino toward her.
Similarly, he drove 95mph on the freeway to get her in San Bernardino two years ago.
After crouching in the VIP section while the shots were being fired, Castruita and other concertgoers ripped down the aluminum wall of the section and ran toward the Tropicana hotel.
She and Monticone finally met up at the MGM Grand.
They hugged, just as they had in 2015.