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FAIRMONT -- When we hear about tragedies like the recent shooting in Las Vegas, there is a mixture of emotions that rises to the surface.
We think about things such as how we would have reacted, did we know anyone there, and why it occurred. While it's only natural to focus on such things, there is another attitude we can adopt.
Thankfulness may seem wholly alien; after all, nobody is thankful that the tragedy occurred. Yet there are the actions of emergency workers and helpful civilians. Such brave men and women put themselves in harm's way to rescue and heal the injured, as well as prevent further death.
It is those thoughts that stick in the mind of Fairmont Police Chief Mike Hunter who, along with other local officers, was in Las Vegas at the time of the incident.
While not directly involved, Hunter was close enough to see the effects of that night unfold around him, and was able to share his perspective on what took place.
"Myself, Detective Eric Tonder and Sergeant James Tietje flew into Las Vegas on Sunday morning Oct. 1," he said. "We go there to play in several Texas Hold'em tournaments. During that time, we went to the Excalibur, which is two casinos up from Mandalay Bay. So that afternoon we played and spoke to people about this country music festival, which I wasn't aware was going on.
"We played with one couple, a husband and wife who were very excited to go to the show that night, and they had a bunch of friends who were in town, which was the first I heard of the concert."
That evening, the guys were playing in their evening tournament, which was winding down at the time of the shooting at 10:08 p.m.
"During the time we were in our casino, there were no alerts put out, and no information was coming out about what was occurring just outside the doors across Las Vegas Boulevard," Hunter said. "So we finished our tournament, and decided to play in a late tournament at Mandalay Bay.
"So we went in the interior walkway between Excalibur over to the Luxor, and when we walked into the casino, that's when it became evident that something was going on. It was totally empty, and we were the only ones walking through the casino. So we walked through to the walkway to go over to Mandalay Bay, and a security guard finally came up said not to go that way because somebody shot up a bunch of people and they wouldn't let us in."
Hunter said that was the first information they had about what was going on.
"We ended up going back through the food court area of the Luxor, and it was still totally abandoned," he said. "Everything was open but nobody was around, so I walked up to another security guard and asked what was really going on. He told us that there was a shooting, but that he really couldn't tell us."
Hunter said that if they had gone out the front door of the Luxor, they would have been able to see what was happening, but they ended up walking back over to the Excalibur, where news reports were just starting to come in over the television.
"At that point, they were saying that there were at least 2 killed and 20 injured, and they were just starting to release some of the videos that were going out over social media at that point," Hunter said.
He noted that after the news came out, it did not take long for misinformation to begin causing unrest.
"During that time, word started coming out over social media about a possible second shooter at a different casino, and as we were still in the food court, a group of people came running past followed by another group, and at that time general panic set in," Hunter said. "People started running, jumping under tables, and hiding under booths. Detective Tonder and myself looked around the area and we couldn't figure out what they were running from."
Shortly after that point, Hunter said the Excalibur went into lockdown, with casino security not letting people out, and funneling people in because it was considered safe. He also noted it was strange to see places empty at the start of the next day. But by noon things were pretty well back to normal.
"That following day, we walked across the street to the area that was roped off by the police, and we could observe several shoes, purses and coats showing which direction people fled from the area," Hunter said. "That was all still roped off as part of the crime scene, and you could still look up and see the two holes in the windows at Mandalay Bay showing what a horrible position that would have been for people trying find safety as they got out of the concert."
Hunter said one thing that has stuck in his mind since then has been the response of emergency personnel and law enforcement, as well as the willingness of people to help in whatever way they could.
"At one point, Sergeant Tietje took a couple of different cab rides to a couple of different places trying to donate blood, but every place he went was all booked up for donations for that day," he said. "There was just a huge outpouring of support from the people who were there. During the time in Vegas, we heard the news media start the debate on gun control and several people started conspiracy theories about the lack of information being provided, but I think the greatest thing we took away from that were the actions of the police, fire and ambulance personnel, and those at the concert who went to help those next to them who they didn't even know.
"I'd prefer not to focus on the hateful actions of Stephen Paddock, but rather on the positive and heroic actions of those who responded and worked to save others," he continued. "I think those actions speak louder than the actions of one hateful person. People try to find the why, and the truth is we'll never know, it's just a despicable act of hate."
Hunter says that while he and other officers teach classes for active shooter training around the Martin County area, people can also get a sample of that education online.
"There's a five-minute video on YouTube called "Run Hide Fight"; it's put on by the city of Houston and the Department of Homeland Security," he stated. "When we were kids, we were always taught that if you caught on fire you should stop, drop and roll, and this is the same short concept of what your three options are in a situation and give you a course of action you can simply implement. During this course of action in Vegas, there was no where to hide, there's no way to fight a person 500 yards away, and so they were left with the option of running and that's exactly what they needed to do."
Hunter also shared what he feels to be an important and often overlooked issue when it comes to tragedies such as Las Vegas: that of mental health.
"I know this incident will fuel the gun control debate, but I would ask those who want to debate the aspects of gun control also take a strong look at where we are in our state, and where we stand with the current mental health care services we have available," he said. "One of the stats that we come up with is the number of mass shootings has increased over the last few years, but the total deaths involved in shootings only accounts for less than 1 percent of all firearms-related deaths in the United States. So even though there were 58 people killed during this incident, in the month of September, there were 57 killed in the city of Chicago and over 200 injured from firearms-related deaths."
"I'm not going to debate the gun control aspect one way or the other," he said. "I enjoy shooting firearms in a responsible manner with my family. I teach my children and wife responsible firearm ownership. But I'd rather see us focus on some of the mental health aspects that are lacking in the state of Minnesota right now, and I'd like to see that as part of any gun control debate that gets going. There's a lot of things to talk about in our society these days, but the big thing is if you look at how people came together to help each other out, I think that's what I'd focus on and what I'd like to say speaks volumes about our society."