1. Las Vegas Shooting 1
RUNNING HEAD: LAS VEGAS SHOOTING
Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting in Las Vegas
Shelby Simpson
Dr. Joy L. Daggs
Communication 420 – Crisis Communication
December 8, 2017
2. Las Vegas Shooting 2
Jason Aldean enters the stage of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada
ready to entertain. The crowd sees him and gets louder and louder anticipating him to start
playing so they can sing along. As Aldean begins his song a sound similar to that of fireworks
breaks out. The crowd, along with Aldean is confused. The sound they thought was fireworks is
actually that of gunshots. The gunshots were coming from the 32nd
floor of the Mandalay Bay
Resort and Casino, across the street from the festival venue. Pulling the trigger, Steven Paddock,
a 64-year-old man. Paddock has no criminal record and no terrorist affiliation. His motivation
unknown, the damage unparalleled. (Bui, 2017)
Background
The Route 91 Harvest festival is a three-day country music concert that happens in Las
Vegas, Nevada. Right across from the street from the festival venue is the Mandalay Bay Resort
and Casino. Both of these organizations were the most impacted by this crisis. Looking at the
pre-crisis and warning signs, Mandalay Bay had more than the festival did.
The festival was in its final day when the mass shooting occurred. There were little to no
warning signs for the festivalgoers. For Mandalay Bay, a few went unnoticed. Paddock stayed in
his large suite on the 32nd
floor for several days and “aroused no suspicion” while somehow
getting 23 guns to his room (Bui, 2017). Joseph Lombardo, the sheriff of the Las Vegas
Metropolitan Police Department claims that staff members of the hotel had been in and out of
Paddock’s suite and saw nothing suspicious. According to Paddock “it was not evident that he
had weapons in his room before the shooting (Bui, 2017).
3. Las Vegas Shooting 3
The event was incredibly unexpected and there were no real warning signs or ways to take
preventative measures.
Crisis and Response
With a large amount of “sophisticated planning” Paddock was able to kill 59 people and
injure 500. Looking over the music festival from the top of the Mandalay Bay, he broke the
window out and then shot through the window at the crowd of thousands. The shots began
around 10 o’clock Sunday night.
Aldean, who at first, thought the sound was a “blown speaker” or “technical issue” fled the
stage once he realized what was happening (Kim, 2017). The festival attendees had little option
to avoid gunshots since Paddock had a heightened shot on them. As people began to frantically
flee the venue and try to find a safe place, chaos ensued and people were injured trying to escape.
Strangers helped each other get to safety and even stopped vehicles to ask for rides to hospitals.
“Syed Saquib, a surgeon on duty Sunday night at University Medical Center, said the hospital
treated 104 patients, most of whom had gunshot wounds” (Bui, 2017).
Hotel security and local police searched the hotel looking for the shooter. When they came
upon Paddock’s suite, they could see that shots had been fired through the door, and a security
guard was hit in the leg. SWAT teams stormed the room finding Paddock dead. (Bui, 2017).
President Trump applauded the “speed with which local law enforcement responded to the
shooting — asserting that their actions saved lives — though he noted that hundreds were still
mourning the loss of loved ones.” (Bui, 2017). Trump knew that answers for survivors, their
loved ones, and loved ones of victims would not come quick enough.
4. Las Vegas Shooting 4
This shows that the immediacy of the response team was up to par. As the crisis unfolds, it is
important to get information out immediately (Coombs, 2015, pg. 112). Since this crisis
produced harm so quickly, it was important to get the information out quickly as well.
Las Vegas came together to grieve and look for comfort after this deadly mass shooting, and
the search for answers to Paddock’s actions began.
After the shooting police began to look in to the background of Paddock. Paddock had no
criminal background and no record of mental illness. He did engage in “high-dollar gambling”
and was said to be “wealthy” with no kids to support. In the past, he worked as an accountant
and he had real estate investments in Orlando, Florida (Ross, 2017). Police struggled finding
Paddock’s motivation and believe he acted alone.
Police did find a hand written note with specific calculations revealing the distance and
trajectory from his suite at Mandalay Bay to the festival crowd. Investigators have “reviewed
video surveillance from different locations” and have no leads to another suspect (McKirdy,
2017). There was clues that could have been a sign that Paddock had intended on surviving the
shooting. He had 50 pounds of explosives and 1,600 rounds of ammunition in his vehicle in the
Mandalay Bay parking lot (McKirdy, 2017).
In a crisis response, it is important to have instructing information, adjusting information,
and reputation management (Coombs, 2015, pg. 139). In this crisis of a mass shooting, the police
and authorities did this well. They made sure everyone knew that they needed to get off the
Vegas Strip and find a safe place. The as the crisis kept evolving they adjusted information and
told people where to find their loved ones and where to go for other needs.
5. Las Vegas Shooting 5
Post-Crisis
After the shooting survivors, Mandalay Bay, Jason Aldean, the Route 91 Harvest Festival,
and others were trying to recover and show their condolences.
Jason Aldean, at first, cancelled all his performances; but then resumed the tour to show
commitment to his fans. A week after the shooting he and his wife returned to Las Vegas to meet
with survivors. His hope is that unity can be shown amongst country music and its fans and
everyone can begin to heal, himself included. Aldean, along with other well-known country stars
raised $4 million in a benefit concert for victims (Kim, 2017). Even after the crisis, at the CMT
Artist of the Year Awards, on October 18, Aldean and other stars honored victims of the
shooting (Fox News, 2017).
Aldean responded in a very effective way and showed that he actually cared, but that he was
also recovering from the event as well. He used his celebrity platform and connections to honor
victims.
Mandalay Bay and The Route 91 Harvest Festival changed their websites to reflect the
tragedy. They both made statements and have places to donate to a relief fund. The festival
website has no navigation and no options. There is one screen with an orange ribbon and the logo
with a statement sending their “deepest sympathies” to all affected by the “senseless violence”
(Route 91 Harvest, 2017). They thank all the people who helped during the crisis and end on a
statement that hate will not win and the day will never be forgotten. Both of these main
organizations involved in the crisis responded well and showed empathy towards survivors and
victims. Both Mandalay Bay and Route 91 Harvest Festival maintained their reputation, which
6. Las Vegas Shooting 6
is, “an evaluation stakeholder make about an organization” (Coombs, 2015, pg. 34). All the
people involved in the crisis saw how the two responded and that helps to maintain their image.
If they would have shown little empathy or not had any statement about the killing then it could
have ruined their image, and their organization.
In an article from The New Yorker about a couple, Rachel Sheppard and Jesse Morrow
shows one account of how victims are recovering. Rachel was enjoying the concert until
Paddock started firing and she was hit in the chest under her left breast and her abdomen. The
shot injured her liver and her aorta. People who were trying to get her help would pick her up,
and then as shots rang out again drop to the ground in fear. After four surgeries, Sheppard is
recovering and is a survivor of the mass shooting. For Sheppard, “some days are better than
others” but she is undergoing physical and occupational therapy in hopes of getting back to
normal (Fortini, 2017).
7. Las Vegas Shooting 7
Bibliography
Bui, L., Zapotosky, M., Barrett, D., & Berman, M. (2017, October 02). At least 59 killed in Las
Vegas shooting rampage, more than 500 others injured. Washington Post. Retrieved
November 16, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-
mix/wp/2017/10/02/police-shut-down-part-of-las-vegas-strip-due-to-
shooting/?utm_term=.58400072c1dc
Coombs, W. Timothy. (2015). Ongoing crisis communication: planning, managing, and
responding. Thousand Oaks, California. SAGE Publications.
Country stars honor Las Vegas shooting victims at CMT Artists. Fox News. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 17, 2017, from http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/10/19/country-
stars-honor-las-vegas-shooting-victims-at-cmt-artists.html
Fortini, A. (2017, October 29). Life after Near-Death in the Las Vegas Shooting. The New
Yorker. Retrieved November 17, 2017, from https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-
desk/life-after-near-death-in-the-las-vegas-shooting
Kim, E. K. (2017, November 14). Jason Aldean recalls panicked first moments after Las Vegas
gunman opened fire. Today. Retrieved November 17, 2017, from
https://www.today.com/popculture/jason-aldean-recalls-panicked-first-moments-after-
las-vegas-gunman-t118779
McKirdy, E. (2017, October 20). Calculations were on Las Vegas shooter's note. CNN.
Retrieved November 17, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/07/us/las-vegas-
shooting-investigation/index.html
Ross, B., Hosenball, A., Park, C., Meek, J. G., & Mosk, M. (n.d.). Las Vegas shooting: What we
know about suspect Stephen Paddock. ABC News. Retrieved November 17, 2017, from
8. Las Vegas Shooting 8
http://abcnews.go.com/US/las-vegas-shooting-suspect-stephen-
paddock/story?id=50225619
Route 91 Harvest – 3-Day Country Music Festival in Las Vegas. (n.d.). Retrieved December 07,
2017, from http://rt91harvest.com/splash-page/
