On October 1 in Las Vegas, at around 10:08 p.m. concert goers were enjoying music at the Route 91 harvest festival when they heard what they believed to be firecrackers. Tragically they turned out to actually be gunshots.  

Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on the festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. After roughly nine to ten minutes of gunfire, Paddock took his own life. He left no trace of a motive.

One concert goer, who happened to be an former marine, acted in the moment and stole a pickup truck in order to transport complete strangers who sustained injuries during the shooting.

In an interview given to CNN the hero, named Taylor Winston said, “No ambulances were immediately available,there were far too many casualties for anyone to handle…”.

Another account of heroism presents itself as a firefighter and paramedic named Dean McAuley, who showed true composure under pressure. During the gunfire he remained calm inside of a triage tent and assisted a teenage girl. who was shot in the hip. He kept her stable and calm throughout the night until further help could arrive.

First responders are well trained for mass casualty situations like this. Police and firefighters began to train together after attacks in India in 2008, and all law enforcement agencies within the Las Vegas Valley are trained for counter terrorism integration.

Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Branden Clarkson said the training given to these agencies allowed other first responders to integrate with police, and also included that the training protocols will not be changed anytime soon because it worked and caused a bad situation from being a whole lot worse.