Singer Kaya Jones: Las Vegas shooting was a helpless feeling
Singer Kaya Jones was on stage moments before a gunman opened fire during the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday night. The assailant attacked concertgoers from the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel, killing at least 50 people and injuring more than 400 others, in the deadliest shooting in United States history.
“We left got onto the bus, arrived at the next stop which was their bar that’s local for a quick after performance—as we got there the guys jumped on stage, we started to get information that there was an active shooter that people were hit on stage, I think Jason [Aldean] was three songs in when it began-- so we were moments away from that—he could have picked at any moment to shoot,” Jones told The FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.” on Monday.
The gunman, who killed himself as police raided the hotel room, has been identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, used at least 10 guns to spray the crowd with countless rounds of ammunition, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Jones described the atmosphere around her as stun, horror and outrage once she heard the news.
“We went down to the bus, then we knew we weren’t safe on the bus—we came back up and pretty much were barricaded inside of the bar—there was one person with a gun with seven rounds and in that moment, you know, luckily we had an FBI agent who was on his honeymoon and he showed his information and said ‘I’m not carrying, does anyone have a gun?’ and handed it over to him and he stood guard at the door,” she said.
“In that moment we felt there’s how many people in this room and there’s only one gun with 7 rounds—it is a helpless feeling, especially because we were told there was more than one shooter, they were on the Vegas strip—you had SWAT everywhere… It was like ‘I Am Legend’ there was nobody on that street.”
President Trump reacted on Twitter, offering ‘condolences’ and ‘sympathies’ to the victims and families of the shooting.
My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017
He described the act as “pure evil” during a news conference on Monday and will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with law enforcement, first responders and the families of the victims.