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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 4 OctOber 2017
Acts of heroism emerge in chaos of Las Vegas shooting

grabbed the injured man, was blood everywhere I
carried him out to Las Ve- went: Excalibur, Luxor, on
gas Boulevard, put him in the Strip, on the street,”
the back of a utility truck Ledbetter said. “All these
with five to 10 other people people are going to have
that was headed to the PTSD. I feel bad for all of
hospital. them.”
Ledbetter said he would Another concertgoer,
have helped more people Anna Kupchyan, credits
but couldn’t clear the bar- a man she knows only as
rage of gunfire. Zach for saving her life and
“I’m saving people, or try- about nine others when he
ing to do my best. But it got herded them into an out-
to the point, I saw people all door trailer serving as a re-
over, laying where we used stroom.
to be standing ... just laying Kupchyan, a 27-year-old
there and nobody getting law student from Los Ange-
University of Nevada Las Vegas students Raymond Lloyd, right,
and Karla Rodriguez take part in a vigil in Las Vegas. A gunman to them and I couldn’t get les, said bullets were rain-
on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino hotel rained au- out there. The shots just kept ing down on the crowd as
tomatic weapons fire down on the crowd of over 22,000 at an coming in and bouncing. I she and a horde of others
outdoor country music festival Sunday. would have been in harm’s began running in search of
(AP Photo/Gregory Bull) way,” he said.He worries a way out of the outdoor
By AMANDA LEE MYERS than 10 minutes, according that those unfamiliar with venue.
JOCELYN GECKER to radio traffic, and then battlefields will suffer what The man, Zach, opened
Associated Press killed himself before offi- they have survived. a door and ordered peo-
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Rob cers stormed in and found “Everybody there is going ple inside and then joined
Ledbetter’s battlefield in- 23 firearms. to have emotional prob- them and shut the door,
stincts kicked in quickly as “The echo, it sounded like lems. I know that. There Kupchyan said.q
bullets rained overhead. it was coming from every-
The 42-year-old U.S. Army where and you didn’t know
veteran who served as a which way to run,” said
sniper in Iraq immediate- Ledbetter, who was at the
ly began tending to the concert with seven people
wounded, one of several including his brother, who
heroes to emerge from the was shot and injured, and
deadliest mass shooting in his wife. They found cover
modern U.S. history. Amid in a VIP area of the con-
the massacre in Las Ve- cert. Once out of harm’s
gas, which left 59 people way, he turned to injured
dead and more than 500 strangers.
injured, there were acts of Thanks to a man who took
compassion and countless the flannel shirt off his back,
heroics that officials say Ledbetter says he put a
saved many lives. makeshift tourniquet on
There was a man one sur- a wounded teenage girl,
vivor knows only as Zach whose face was covered
who herded people to a with blood.
safe place. There was a “Some random guy, I said,
registered nurse from Ten- ‘I need your shirt,’ “said
nessee who died shielding Ledbetter, who is now a
his wife. mortgage broker and a
Like many people in the resident of Las Vegas. “He
crowd of some 22,000 just gave me the flannel off
country music fans Sunday his back.”
night, Ledbetter heard the Ledbetter said he com-
pop-pop-popping noise pressed someone else’s
and figured it was fireworks. shoulder wound, and he
Then he saw people drop- fashioned a bandage for
ping to the ground. When a man whose leg was shot
more booms echoed in the through by a bullet.
night air, he recognized the “There was a guy that
sound of automatic weap- looked like he had a
ons fire. through and through on his
The gunman, identified as leg, that we just put a T-shirt
Stephen Craig Paddock, around and just did a ban-
a 64-year-old retired ac- danna tie,” said Ledbetter,
countant from Mesquite, who was outside University
Nevada, created his own Medical Center on Mon-
sniper’s perch inside the day, where his brother was
32nd floor room at the being treated for a gun-
Mandalay Bay casino ho- shot that went through his
tel, across from the concert arm and into his chest. He is
grounds. He appeared to expected to survive.
fire unhindered for more Ledbetter and others