Olympia police officer among those who escaped harm at Vegas music festival
Three days after a shooting at a Las Vegas country festival killed 59 and injured more than 500, people in the crowd with ties to Thurston County are speaking out about what happened.
KING-5 reports an Olympia police officer and her family escaped unharmed, thanks in part to the officer’s training.
“I look back on it and try to think of a time where I was truly scared, and I don’t recall at any point where I was scared,” said Kelsey Clark, who was at the concert with her husband, Toby.
At least one person killed had ties to the area. Denise Burditus lived here while her husband was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Tony Burditus told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday he thought at first the gunshots were pyrotechnics.
“We stood there for a second and she asked me if it was gunfire. I told her no,” he said.
Denise Burditus worked at Heritage Bank and was president of the Association of the United States Army subchapter in Lacey. The couple had since moved to West Virginia, according to KING-5.
Tenino’s Adam Craig performed at the concert hours before the shooting began. He told the Tennessean newspaper it was “the scariest night of my life.”
Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday called for new gun regulations in Washington state in response to the shooting. He said state lawmakers should ban “bump stocks,” which can be used to modify a semi-automatic rifle so it can mimic a fully automatic weapon.
Police found two bump stocks in the hotel room where the gunman fired hundreds of rounds at concertgoers.
But the Clarks told Time magazine they thought the shooting could not have been prevented, and they don’t want to see new gun laws now.
“He bought his firearms legally but he modified them illegally,” Toby Clark said of the shooter. “I believe in tight gun laws, but I also believe in the Second Amendment.”
Abby Spegman: 360-704-6869, @AbbySpegman
This story was originally published October 4, 2017 at 11:05 AM with the headline "Olympia police officer among those who escaped harm at Vegas music festival."