Sunday, October 1, 2017 - After taking in the comedy show at the Tropicana Laugh Factory, I walked east on Tropicana Ave to Koval, to the "Ellis Island Karaoke" - The shooting probably began about the same time this guy started singing, so I missed the onslaught of Route 91 Concert refuge seekers from the shooting running to the Tropicana by approximately 10 minutes. The front entrance of Ellis Island was under renovation construction. Shortly after this, I left and walked west on Flamingo Rd., crossing the Koval Ave. crosswalk. Seemed like a lot more of people than usual waiting on the other side for the "Walk Light". (This is the same intersection where the Rapper Tupac Shakur, f/k/a Lesane Parish Crooks was shot by a drive-by on September 7, 1996 at 11:05 p.m , later dying September 13, 1996) Crossed Koval, and that is when I noticed little vehicle traffic on Flamingo Rd. and people of all ages running toward me from Bally's. A convoy of 6 Henderson PD Squads, with blues lights & sirens blaring, racing past eastbound and then a minute later returning back westbound. There were North Las Vegas PD Squads, Unmarked and other out of jurisdiction squads, sirens with dash lights flashing, coming and going in all directions, (Bally's was formerly the MGM Grand, which was the site of Las Vegas' worse tragedy during a fire November 21, 1980, that killed 85 and injured 627 persons) At the Bally's Pedestrian elevators, I asked the Bally's Security Guy what is going on. He said, multiple shooters everywhere, take cover. I went up the escalator to the pedestrian overpass and encountered two very excited and intense cops, in tactical gear and with their assault weapons drawn, yelled at me to run and keep down. I went down the escalator and at the guarded Cromwell (formerly the Barbary coast) door entrance where I was let in the casino. The Strip was locked down and I couldn't leave until around 2:15 A.M. In the meantime, I used my Kindle to login into the Cromwell WI-FI, which had good bandwidth, and watched the Fox News Channel live coverage, by Adam Housley at Tropicana Ave., by the Mandalay Bay, who was in town covering the OJ Simpson release from prison. First reports were 2 dead, 24 injured. Not long after that he interviewed a paramedic from LA who was attending the concert. He said, the fatalities were much worse and numerous, that he had pronounced over 20 dead himself, and there were many more. Around 2:15 A.M. I was able to leave the Cromwell. The RTC buses were not operating, I walked back to Circus-Circus, in quite a cold brisk north-wind, and only saw a few other people walking on the Strip, and every cross-street intersection was being blocked by a squad, with a cop with his assault rifle, standing outside his squad door. I made it back to Circus-Circus and then TV channeled surfed, watching the live news coverage.
The next day, a TV interview with a Fire Dept. Lieutenant probably explained the reason why I had experienced those very tense and excited cops on the Bally's pedestrian overpass. The Fire Lt. said -- dispatch was receiving numerous calls with limited information, which led to the confusion about the multiple shooters reports, at several locations. One example he gave was that -- an injured shooting victim made his way back to Caesars' and someone called in, "a person shot at Caesars' and needs EMS." The Cromwell is only a pedestrian overpass across from Caesars' Palace.
I am very cognizant of all the risks while visiting Vegas. There are many past incidents of fatalities from vehicles jumping curbs onto the sidewalks, killing pedestrians, sadly it's quite common for Vegas. Just the night before the shooting massacre, three Vegas young boys, ages 12-14 were killed at 9:07 p.m. at the intersection of East Desert Inn Rd. and Nellis Blvd., in a hit and run car jumping sidewalk killing pedestrian tragedy. I also remember the Friday, February 22, 2013 at 12:37AM PT, when the Rapper Kenny Clutch, f/k/a Kenneth Cherry Jr., who was killed in a drive-by shooting that subsequently caused a fatal fiery car-taxi crash at this same intersection, the Strip and Flamingo Rd.
On December 20, 2015 at 6:40 p.m PT, Lakeisha N. Holloway, 24, driving northbound on the Strip, accelerated while swerving right onto the sidewalk in front of Planet Hollywood, mowing down and killing Jessica Valenzuela, 32, of Buckeye, Arizona and injuring 34 others in the crosswalk area in front of Paris Las Vegas, before striking a light pole and continuing by Ballys, then eastbound on a flat tire to Tuscanys, east of Koval on Flamingo Road.
On October 17, 2017 construction began on the Mirage sidewalks to install 700 steel pole "bollards." This should provide a protection barrier for the pedestrian safety. These "bollards" are designed to withstand a typical vehicle crash traveling 55 mph.