By: McKinzie Jackson
At a country music festival in Las Vegas October 1st, a shooter named Stephan Paddock shot at the crowd across the strip from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. It was the worst mass shooting in modern American history. This atrocity brings deep sadness to people in the crowd who survived, the families of those lost, Americans across the country, and citizens across the world who heard the story.
Being only a little over an hour away, Las Vegas is a common destination for people who live in Bullhead and want to do something that is unavailable in our relatively small town. One Bullhead citizen, Lisa Albrecht, was at the festival when the shooting occurred: “My body is weak. My head is spinning. My heart is aching. Never would I have thought to be part of something so incredibly horrific” she posted on Facebook after the tragic event.
The Mohave County Attorney Victims Program of the Mohave County Attorney’s Office announced that they “would like to extend their services to Mohave County residents who are victims of the shooting in Las Vegas, NV on October 1, 2017”. They expressed that victims of this crime may be eligible for financial assistance from the Nevada Victims of Crime Program for expenses such as “funeral and burial costs, medical treatment, mental health counseling, wage or income loss, and other crime-related expenses”. To contact the Mohave County Victim Assistance Program, call 928-718-4967. For more information on the Nevada Victim Assistance Program, you can go to their website or call 702-486-2740.
As for you, Mohave High, some of you were personally affected by the shooting, and the majority went to school on Monday with heavy hearts after hearing the news. Sophomore athlete Taelor Rich posted a photo she took of the Las Vegas skyline on Instagram the following Tuesday and said, “I didn’t post anything about this yesterday because it was too fresh and real for me. It never fails to shock me how disgusting people are. The families affected are all in my heart. Everyone donating blood, money, support, and prayers to Vegas [are] hero[s].”
Chair of the Clark County Commission, Steve Sisolak, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Vegas’ victims and their families. There is also a National Compassion Fund that people can donate $10 to via text message; 100% of the money raised through this is going directly to victims. As Mohave students, you can help by either donating to these sources or informing people you know who can.
The Thunderbird Echo 