Stories are emerging from Las Vegas of tourists running for their lives, trying to escape a hail of gunfire in what’s become the worst mass shooting in modern American history.
Charles Welde has a story of his own. The Bloomington Edge general manager traveled to Vegas on Sunday night for Indoor Football League (IFL) meetings. The shooting began just as Welde’s plane was landing at McCarran International Airport—not far from the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.
Trying to make sense of fast-flying rumors with the rest of the passengers on his flight, Welde eventually made it to his hotel, Harrah’s, late Sunday. Like most of the Strip it was on lockdown. The doors were chained shut, the table games were empty, and the restaurants inside were closed.
Welde, who once lived in Vegas for three years, finally ventured out onto Las Vegas Boulevard around 7 a.m. Police were everywhere. At least two officers were stationed at each hotel-casino entrance.
But by lunchtime Monday, things were starting to return to something resembling normal.
“Everyone was back. Everyone was playing and walking around. Of course, it was a little more somber than usual. Most conversations centered around, ‘Hey, where were you? What was it like?’” Welde said. “But everybody was right back to it. I thought it was really resilient of the city.
“There were definitely people who are upset and somber. You have a lot of lives that have been affected, but I think people want to keep living their lives. It was really neat to see people back out.”
The IFL’s league meetings took place Monday and Tuesday as scheduled.
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