Mark Bethune was celebrating his 50th birthday with his wife Sherrell on Sunday. They were watching Jason Aldean perform at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. Then the shots began. The Bethunes are now back home in San Angelo.
Mark Bethune says he and his wife were about 30 yards from the stage, slightly left of center. He heard popping that he thought might be fireworks from a casino on the strip.“Then we saw Jason run off the stage [in an abrupt manner.] The music stopped, and then we heard automatic gunfire,” he says.
Bethune says the gunfire stopped, then started again.
“At that point, the whole facility just hit the ground,” he says.
The experience was a blur, Bethune says. He remembers seeing pictures – images moving in slow motion.
“I’m still trying to piece everything together,” he says.
He says after two or three series of gunshots, he and Sherrell began to run. He doesn’t know if anyone in his area was wounded. The Bethunes jumped several fences to escape, receiving minor injuries from the jumps, as they went. Once the Bethunes were clear of the area, they could hear gunfire more clearly.
“It sounded like there might have been two shooters,” he says.
The experience continues to stick with him.
“Every time I think things are getting better – and I guess things are getting better – just a wave of grief overcomes me,” Bethune says.
Written by Shelly Brisbin.
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