Sienna Plantation man jumps in to help Vegas shooting victims
MISSOURI CITY, Texas -- We've heard from several Houstonians who were in Las Vegas when suspected shooter Stephen Paddock opened fire, killing 58 people and hurting more than 500.
Jason Ervin, from Sienna Plantation, was less than a half mile away playing blackjack, celebrating his birthday. Ervin said 40-50 people burst through the door of the Hooters where he was with friends. He and his three buddies ran and took cover with ten other people in the kitchen of the Tropicana Las Vegas.
"They're screaming: 'Shooter, they're trying to kill us! The shooter is following us!' People don't have shoes on, they're half-dressed running through the casino."
Ervin said he saw four people who were shot. He recorded video on his phone of ambulances and police cars, as parts of the strip turned into a triage center.
"You see that realness and we decided to--we ran. A bunch of old men ran away," Ervin said.
Ervin called his wife back in Missouri City after midnight.
"He was yelling into the phone, it was really chaotic behind him," Laurie Ervin told us.
He was okay. She was relieved. But Ervin couldn't get back into his hotel. He was staying at Mandalay Bay, six floors below the shooter.
"The shooter had been there since he had been there on Thursday. So, that comes into my mind--he has probably run into this shooter," Lori said. "I just realize what it could've been, how bad it really could have been."
"It's hard to fathom, to be honest with you," Ervin said.
The father of three missed his flight home Monday morning. He's flying into Houston on Tuesday.
