Firefighters in Los Angeles see a range of human tragedy in their work, from victims of horrible accidents and crimes to casualties of natural disasters.
But the violence that unfolded at a country music festival in the shadow of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday night was like war, said firefighter Robert Hayes.
“I think with 30,000 people ... in the arena area that it was kind of like shooting goldfish, unfortunately,” Hayes told a Fox News reporter. “[The shooter] didn’t have to be good or whatnot. It was just a reckless situation and it’s a sad, sad day.”
Hayes, who attended the final night of the Route 91 Harvest country music festival with his wife and friends, was getting refreshments near the front of the stage a few minutes after 10 p.m. when the first distant pops of gunfire broke through the sound of the live performance on stage.