36-year-old Mike Santilli from Vancouver, B.C had been enjoying a boys’ weekend for a bachelor party in Las Vegas when the shocking mass shooting initiated by 64-year-old gunman, Stephen Craig Paddock occurred, across from Mandalay Bay at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
He recalls the fateful event and aftermath in this candid eyewitness account:
The Realization
‘’I knew there was something wrong when I started walking towards the direction of Mandalay Bay, just after 10 pm. There was a policeman on a bicycle and he was stationed there on his cellphone. He said to whomever he was on the line with, ‘’Just so you know, there’s been a shooting at Tropicana Boulevard.’’
‘’Right away my friend, Darren checked his phone and the story was all over the news, ‘Active shooter at Mandalay Bay’. So, we headed back to The Miraje, where we were staying. Suddenly, we saw a mob of about 40-50 people running towards the store next to the casino of the hotel and they were all yelling at us to, ‘‘Run!’’. I didn’t hear any gun shots, but all I could see were people scattering so Darren and I ran with this group.’’
‘’Security then started ushering us to the outside pool area, trying to move everyone into one section for an evacuation process. But that was so difficult, because it was mass hysteria and chaos around them, some people were even trying to jump the fence to get out.’’
False Reports
‘’We realized what was creating the mass panic, since we saw via Twitter false claims of multiple shooters, in multiple facilities. There were claims of a bomb threat at the Luxor, which is right next to Mandalay Bay and reports of a shooter at Caesars Palace. I learned from my friend afterwards why at The Miraje, people ran as they did. After the initial shooting, apparently a woman came into the casino and yelled that there was an, ‘’Active shooter.’’
‘’It was at around 11pm that we started to make our way to our room, without knowing if we were secure and safe, since security couldn’t tell us either way- they didn’t know themselves. It was eerily quiet as we got to the 7th floor and there was nobody around when we walked through the large, open hallway.’’
‘’There were still false reports coming through from social media online and one report read that there was a shooter on the 7th floor of the The Miraje. My buddy actually said, ‘’Should we barricade the door?’’
''When I looked out the window, there was police everywhere and a helicopter circling. It was low and darting between buildings, searching the whole perimeter of the parkade.’’
The Aftermath
‘’We were watching live news to find out all the details since the shooting was plastered all over the television. We checked in with our friends as soon as we entered our room, relieved to find out that they were all safe. I was so thankful that they weren’t hurt.’’
‘’It was kind of strange because the next day it really was business as usual in Vegas, but at the same time there was a dark cloud over the city. Casinos were fully operational again and people were out in the streets, but you could still sense this sombre atmosphere.''
‘'As my friends and I walked down the street to grab breakfast, we could see from our view that from Tropicana, the streets were cordoned off and police were stopping people from going any further. I could see Mandalay Bay’s smashed windows, which was a jolting sight.’’
‘’I’m extremely appreciative that I was safe, the incident was horrific. I can’t imagine what the victims and survivors went through, just thinking about it makes my heart pound. My thoughts are with those who were affected and their families.’’