The horrific carnage that took place in Las Vegas on Sunday night served as another sobering reminder of the presence of pure evil in the world that affects all walks of life. For one Detroit Lions player, the tragedy hit close to home.
Defensive back Miles Killebrew had six friends in attendance at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire for several minutes from his room on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Casino and Hotel, ultimately taking the lives of 59 people and wounding hundreds more before turning the gun on himself after being surrounded by police.
Killebrew hails from Henderson, Nevada, which is 16 miles from Las Vegas. Though he was still in Minnesota at the time of the shootings, he still woke up to several texts and messages from family asking if he was okay.
“It was heartbreaking,” Killebrew said from Allen Park. “I had texts asking if my family was OK, and I didn’t know what they were talking about. So I was able to read and see what was going online, and my heart was broken. That’s when I started reaching out to people who I knew back home. That’s when I got news of things that were happening. I was able to see online what was going on. It’s senseless.”
One of Killebrew’s friends remains hospitalized.
“Just love who’s around you right now, because this day and age, you never know what’s going to happen,” Killebrew further explained. “Just show some love to the people around you, if you can. Sometimes that’s all you can do.”
He also said he has friends who work as first-responders in the area, and that the images they saw won’t soon escape.
“The stories are all pretty similar — guys who weren’t even on duty, but went down there just to try to help however they can,” he said. “To go from responding to maybe a single incident, to now there’s bodies everywhere, you can’t unsee stuff like that.”
