Houston tourists describe chaos during mass shooting
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Las Vegas thrives on tourism, so it's no surprise there were plenty of Houstonians in the middle of the shooting aftermath.
Former Texans player BJ Symons was at a hotel nearby. He describes the stampede that followed the gunfire.
"People were saying they're shooting, they're shooting. Get down get down," said Symons.
Mary Bass, a chef from Galveston, was in Vegas working. She too saw victims rushing away from the concert, some with clear life threatening injuries
"The whole back of the truck was full. And there was a girl in the back of the truck and they were doing compressions, and my manager who was with me and we kind of looked at each other like what was that all about," said Bass.
In the chaos, people were unsure how many shooters there were and what was actually happening, many hid in fear.
"People we're getting trampled. My wife got knocked down. She hid under a black jack table for a while," said Symons.
Symons says they eventually made it to their hotel's ballroom where they were kept for hours.
A horrific scene unfolded outside. Aside from the nearly 60 dead, there were many more injured.
In the midst of that tragedy, witnesses say they were glad to see so many selfless witnesses and first responders
"What I take away from it is just trying to be a helper. Stop and take a few seconds to not just think about yourself," said Bass.
"Think about the victims, think about the people who lost loved ones. Because this is an extremely sad situation," said Symons.
