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Remembering Oct. 1, 2017

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n Saturday we will mark the fifth anniversary of the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on the Las Vegas Strip. The carnage took 60 lives, left many hundreds more injured and traumatized thousands of survivors – including an untold number of local residents. Anytime we report on this horrific event, it creates powerful feelings among the Review-Journal’s readership.

I know this because many of you have shared your feelings with me over the past five years. And a whole lot of you have told me you don’t want to read about the bloodshed of Oct. 1 ever again.

People in our newsroom have dealt with their own grief from covering this story. We’ve watched hundreds of hours of police body camera footage from that frightening night. We’ve attended dozens of funerals. We’ve spoken with survivors who suffered devastating physical and psychological trauma. And we've told the stories of two brave women who died years after they were shot that night, increasing the death toll from 58 to 60.

It has always been, and will always be, an incredibly difficult story to tell.

However, we’ve also covered the immeasurable goodwill that resulted from this horrific event. To this day, Las Vegas survivors persevere, look out for one another and honor the fallen in deeply moving ways. Their stories of courage and kindness are worth telling. They remind us of how our worst nightmare brought out the very best in this community.

The memories of the Oct. 1 shooting will always hurt. But we mustn’t forget what they’ve taught us. That’s why we continue to write about Oct. 1.

— Glenn Cook, Executive Editor and Senior Vice President/News
Photographer at Route 91 finds sources of hope in those he saw

I was in a media tent processing photos from the day’s concert when I heard the sounds that many of us will never forget.

honoring the 60
Samanta Arjune, 49
Kimberly Gervais, 57
Hannah Ahlers, 34
Heather Alvarado, 35
Dorene Anderson, 49
Carrie Barnette, 34
Jack Beaton, 54
Steve Berger, 44
Candice Bowers, 40
Denise Burditus, 50
Sandra Casey, 35
Andrea Castilla, 28
Denise Cohen, 58
Austin Davis, 29
Thomas Day Jr., 54
Christiana Duarte, 22
Stacee Etcheber, 50
Brian Fraser, 39
Keri Galvan, 31
Dana Gardner, 52
Angela Gomez, 20
Rocio Guillen, 40
Charleston Hartfield, 34
Chris Hazencomb, 44
Jennifer Irvine, 42
Teresa "Nicol" Kimura, 38
Jessica Klymchuk, 34
Carly Kreibaum, 33
Rhonda LeRocque, 42
Victor Link, 55
Jordan McIldoon, 23
Kelsey Meadows, 28
Calla-Marie Medig, 28
James "Sonny" Melton, 29
Patricia "Pati" Mestas, 67
Austin Meyer, 24
Adrian Murfitt, 35
Rachael Parker, 33
Jennifer Parks, 36
Carrie Parsons, 31
Lisa Patterson, 46
John Phippen, 56
Melissa Ramirez, 26
Jordyn Rivera, 21
Quinton Robbins, 20
Cameron Robinson, 28
Tara Roe Smith, 34
Lisa Romero-Muniz, 48
Christopher Roybal, 28
Brett Schwanbeck, 61
Bailey Schweitzer, 20
Laura Shipp, 50
Erick Silva, 21
Susan Smith, 53
Brennan Stewart, 30
Derrick "Bo" Taylor, 56
Neysa Tonks, 46
Michelle Vo, 32
Kurt Von Tillow, 55
William "Bill" Wolfe Jr., 42
Read all of our coverage