Tonight ` the Las Vegas massacre. The extraordinary and chilling portrait of what played out there. I thought, 'If I'm going to die, I want my kids to know that this is what happened.' Told by those who survived it. Make this place shake tonight. I just remember it was such a great vibe. As far as the eye can see, it's shoulder to shoulder people. I was getting that on video tape. Jason Aldean was playing, and we were so excited to see him, and then all hell broke loose. All of a sudden you heard (IMITATES GUNFIRE). Run! Don't look! Get everybody off the stage. Everybody off the sage. Tonight ` their stories of survival, heartbreak and heroism. Everybody down! Everybody down! Get up! Get up on your feet! I just started screaming for somebody to help me. And I just remember telling everyone to 'hold on to me. Hold on to me. We're gonna get out of here. 'We're gonna get out of here.' Everyday Americans trapped in the unthinkable. He just wrapped his arms around me from behind, and that's when I felt him get shot in the back, and we fell to the ground. Having someone that, like, loves you so much and would take a bullet for you. I'm a professional firefighter. I'm gonna take care of your daughter. I don't know how I'm gonna get her to the hospital, but we'll get there. Get in the truck. Get in the truck. People that are just like you and me were helping people, and that is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It feels like I didn't do enough. That gets me the most. Now hundreds of lives, families changed forever. Don't let some crazy man or person or terrorist make us be afraid to live. The way we win is we be strong. Tonight ` a special 20/20 presentation ` Las Vegas: Heartbreak and Heroes. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 Kia ora. I'm Carolyn Robinson. Welcome to 20/20. Tonight we have a special edition of 20/20. We are going behind the scenes of the terrible massacre at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. The Route 91 Harvest Festival was supposed to be a chilled-out celebration of country music. Thousands of people gathered for the weekend. None of them suspecting that high above them lurked a lone gunman, who on that fateful Sunday would open fire from his hotel window. 58 people would never make it home, and for those who did, well, things will never be the same. Here are some of their stories. It's relaxation central. There's this, kind of, legacy of Las Vegas as being a place where something secret happens ` maybe you go on your own ` but Las Vegas is also the place where people go in groups to have a wonderful time, and they dance and maybe they gamble, and they hear music. The Route 91 Harvest Festival had been a success for a number of years. It's 20,000 people, a three-day concert. You had a great cross sections of Americans who all wanted to come to that festival. And it drew all kinds of people. My name is Heather Melton, and I live in Big Sandy, Tennessee. Sonny says that when he first saw me that I stole his heart. We, kind of, like to do some travelling, and this year our thing has been going to concerts. And we were very excited to come to the Route 91 Festival. My name is Dean McCauley. I'm a professional firefighter up here in Washington state. We go to this event every year, Route 91 Harvest Fest, in Las Vegas. It's what we do. My name is Jonathan Smith, and I am a copper technician based out of Orange County, California. I recently just got into country music. I know everybody's like, 'Why is there a black guy at a country music festival?' But I've always listened to country. I can listen to any country song, and it'll just take me away. My name Gianna Baca, and I am a cheerleader. My sister Natalia Baca, she's sassy like me. The best thing about being a twin is that we're always together and we're never alone, so you always have, like, a best friend with you. My name's Lisa Fine. And I have two children. I'm a professional organizer and personal trainer, nutritionist. And I live in Roseville, California. My name is Michael Greenfield. I'm a musician, stage technician. I do a lot of different shows out here. Anywhere from doing corporate events to full-on stage concerts. I'm Nick Miller. I'm a guitarist. I play for singer Adam Craig. # Baby, until the last kiss... This was the first time that I had been to this particular festival, so I was pretty excited to get to Vegas and really experience it. I'm Breanna Skagen. I'm Russell Bleck. We got engaged... on September 10th in New York. We were sailing, and he popped the question. We were just celebrating the engagement still, and we got free passes to the festival. Thursday September 28th was actually my boyfriend's birthday. We went over to the Top Golf, hit some golf balls. I spent my day at National Personal Training Institute, at school. On Thursday, I was doing a lot of laundry. We actually went to work that day, and we flew out here to Las Vegas. On Thursday, the man by the name of Stephen Paddock drove away from his home in a gated retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada. What we know about Paddock is that he is a 64-year-old compulsive gambler who worked as an accountant, before that he was an IRS agent. He even worked as a postal carrier. He seemed like a very ordinary person, who didn't mix well with others. Very few people knew much about him. I thought this guy is so into himself, you know. I've never met an individual in my life like that ever, where you couldn't create some emotion one way or the another. Paddock's girlfriend was Marilou Danley. He met her at a casino in Reno, Nevada, the Atlantis. She worked there as, what's called, a casino hostess, for high-end players. Together they travelled around the world, and whenever they went to casinos in Las Vegas, they'd be comped with free suites, free food, all kinds of amenities. On September 15th, Marilou Danley boarded the flight to the Philippines. After she arrived, federal agents discovered that he had been wiring tens of thousands of dollars to accounts someone had in the Philippines. She would late say that she thought she was trying to break up with her, that she had no idea anything was amiss. It's Thursday, September 28th, and Paddock pulls into the Mandalay Bay, leaves the car with the valets and walks into the hotel. One of the things everyone sees when they pass through that lobby is a sign that says no weapons permitted. He gets a room that's called the Mandalay Bay suite. This is room 32-135. And this is one of the nicest suites in the entire hotel. It's 1700 square feet, right on the corner of the hotel, with a perfect view to that concert venue down below. September 29th, at about 11:50 in the morning, we had just landed in Vegas. For three days, I was, you know, just ready to get on my country outfit and have fun. We got to the venue the first day. There were so many bands we were excited about seeing. Number one, especially for Sonny, was to see Eric Church. # That hair of a dog is howling 'Hey there, man.' # And the thing about these country concerts is it's all a tailgate; it's all a party. You walk in. And I'm looking at my phone for my list of all the T-shirts and stuff that people want back home. I bought a cowboy hat, got a bling belt buckle, and just really was excited that I was gonna have this really fancy cowgirl outfit to wear and dance around and have the time of my life. I decided to wear a Black Hills Matter shirt. It's actually the mountains in South Dakota, so I wore it just for laughs and giggles. I was actually here in Las Vegas covering OJ Simpson. Here is ABC senior national correspondent Matt Gutman. Simpson has said he wants to move to Florida to be near his children. My sister and I were really excited. We were like, 'This is our first concert outside with a lot of people.' We're, like, so pumped for it. Saturday was a semi normal day. I decided to go in the full ensemble. I even had on a cowboy hat. As the night went on, I ended up dancing with a few women. My favourite musical moment was when Sam Hunt was getting up on that stage and gonna sing all the songs I absolutely love. # One day I'll teach you. # Those thousands of concertgoers are down below. What they don't know is there's another spectator. He's on the 32nd storey of that building. What Steven Paddock has planned is truly beyond sinister. More when 20/20 returns. . Welcome back to 20/20 and tonight's special story told by the survivors of the Las Vegas massacre. As our story continues, the third day of the Route 91 Harvest Festival is beginning. Thousands of concertgoers are looking forward to a night of country music, blissfully unaware that 32 floors above them a gunman is about to change everything. So, a casino employee told me that between Saturday night and Sunday morning, she watched Paddock play those video poker games, at the high-stakes section of the casino for hours and hours and hours on end. He was there until 7.30, at least, in the morning of the day of the shooting playing that video poker. If gambling is one of his demons, he wanted to get one more fix, and maybe also it pumped up his anger and rage a little bit. We just got up and had breakfast and wanted to watch some football. And then just kinda hung out until we decided to go over to the venue. We were hanging out at the house, putting on outfits and stuff ` just so excited for the festival. We flew into Las Vegas, went straight to the festival and checked in. We started walking into the festival, and I took a quick Snapchat, and the caption read 'wonder what kind of trouble can I get into tonight?' My parents didn't really like us going places without them, so they were like, 'Oh, your seniors and you're almost 18,' so they were like, 'We'll just let you guys go without us this time.' We stay at the Luxor every year. It's right across the street from the venue. It's right next to the Mandalay Bay. Sunday, I'd gotten the call ` 'Hey, do you want to work tonight?' 'Yeah, sure, I'll be there.' On Sunday, there was app whole series of entertainment options to choose from. You had David Copperfield; you had a show called Michael Jackson's One from Cirque du Soleil playing at the Mandalay Bay in addition to the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Las Vegas was alive and jumping, as it is every night. We went on stage at 5.10, and it was still light, but there were a lot of people at the festival. It was around 7.45, we left our house here, and it takes about 15 minutes to get to the Strip. Went to the venue, and then I got dropped off right out front. Just the excitement and energy were off the charts, and everybody is in their, you know, amazing, cowboy gear and looking so cute. We'll see what you got, Las Vegas. Over the weekend, as down below people are drinking beer and revelling in this Route 91 Harvest Festival, Paddock had basically set up this military mobile command centre in that suite. He is slowly stockpiling this massive arsenal in his room. He's got 10 cases. There are 24 guns, and included among them are at least a dozen AR rifles ` those are long guns. One thing we have never before seen in the history of lone shooters in this country is also this elaborate surveillance system that he has enveloped himself in inside the room. He's got a baby monitor set up. There were cameras outside on that room-service cart, one of them hidden right under a plate. With meticulous planning, he had installed a camera right in the peep hole of his door. The purpose of that is that he would be able to monitor from inside the room if law enforcement approaches. He's ordering room service, and those trays are coming in, but notably he didn't want housekeeping in there messing with his stuff. So he had that do not disturb sign out on the door. That day was really amazing, and there was a lot of people there. There was a lot of different bands playing. Come on! # Whoa! # Never gonna slow down. So, I want to say I got there close to 9.30 ` was when my shift was about to start, and when the talent leaves the stage, we get up there and we start tearing it all out. The venue was set up incredible. You just felt like you were safe, because we went through metal detectors. They looked in our purses. I think, with the training and the background that I have, I'm always looking for exits, no matter what. I do remember looking at those fences and looking, like, 'How do we get out if something goes wrong?' There were so many people. Like, everyone was really nice to each other, even random people. They would come up and dance with you. It was really fun. We're all just excited, we're happy, and the music's incredible. It just` you know, music always touches our hearts and lives. You know, all us girls, we like those cowboys that sing those cowboy songs that bring about love and, you know, fun and happiness. Make this place shake tonight! I just remember ` it was just such a great vibe at that point. Breezy! (ALL SING) All of a sudden Journey came on, and you hear this entire crowd just start singing. # Just a city boy, # born and raised in South Detroit. # We took the midnight train going anywhere. We were dancing as much as you could shoulder to shoulder. # I wanna get with you # and take your picture. # My homeboys tried to warn me. # Once you're down, they get you. # Shot, shot, shot, shot, shot. # It kinda was like a throwback to the '60s of, you know, peace, love and happiness. Every year that we go, we stand in the same place next to the VIP booth, and this particular day, we went to the other side. The other side of the stage. And that was a game changer for us. I think one of the most moving parts of the whole three days was they sang 'God Bless America'. The whole crowd was singing at the top of their lungs, and they had their phones lit up. # God bless America. As this music is playing below, there's a very different sound happening on the 32nd floor. He's using a seriously large hammer to start smashing through at least two windows in that suite to gain a vantage point down below. I think Jason Aldean as the main headliner. I was really looking forward to him. I really was. Jason Aldean is huge. He has a song called 'She's Country'. # Sexy, swinging. Brother, she's all... # country. # From her cowboy boots to her down-home roots, she's country. The whole vibe of his show is upbeat and fun and loud. When Jason Aldean started, I was so excited to see him. You have the sickening feeling that none of these people down below had any idea of the carnage that was just about to befall them. We had the VIP wrist bands for, like, the neon tent. We took a photo. Her and I took a photo. After that photos, the contrast was so dramatic. I mean, it was the calm before the storm. You had not a care in the world. Two minutes later ` literally two minutes later. I looked at the time stamp ` and everything changed. Like, with an instant. When 20/20 returns, we'll have that life-changing moment. . Welcome back. Tonight on 20/20, we have a special report told by some of those who survived the Mandalay Bay massacre in Las Vegas. On that fateful Sunday night, thousands of country music fans have gathered for the last day of the Route 91 Harvest Festival. The concert's in full swing. The headline act is on the stage. And everything is about to change forever. # That dirty Braves cap on the dash. I had no sense that we were in any danger at all. It felt so safe. You see as far as the eye can see just shoulder-to-shoulder people. So I was getting that on videotape, just to kinda show how big the crowd was. It's height of this country-western concert below him. Stephen Paddock decided 'I want to kill as many people as possible.' Pops the window, has his weapons lined up ready to go. We were in the front row enjoying Jason Aldean, and in the video, we are so happy. And everybody is just thrilled, and 10 minutes later, all hell broke loose. (GUNFIRE) # It's tough just getting up. (GUNFIRE, SCREAMING) The shots fired. It felt like fireworks, honestly. That's just a fire cracker, I dunno. Why would you do that? I actually turned to Sonny, and I said 'Was that a gun?' and he said, 'I don't think so.' Because the music was very loud. (GUNFIRE) I heard, like, a crackle sound. And it was so odd. I mean, I've been around firearms my whole life, and I didn't think it was a weapon at all. I thought it was just some feedback, maybe from the amplifiers or something. So I continued to shoot. And then I hear somebody was like, 'Was that a gun?' And I was like, 'You know what, on second thought that sounded like an AR-15 from far away.' That was an AR. (GUNFIRE) It sounded like something out of you hear in the news with Afghanistan or Iraq ` any of the movies we see now. Just the click, click, click, click, click, click, click. That's not a real gun. That doesn't sound like a real gun. It is a real gun. (GUNFIRE) (BLEEP) That's me screaming that it is a real gun. And within seconds, you could tell, no, that is not fireworks. That is somebody just spraying bullets down on people ` innocent people. Stay down! I said, 'I think that's guns.' And that's when Jason Aldean ran off the stage. And people started running. Run! I had a little mini flashlight, so I start waving it to everybody. I'm like, 'Guys, get everybody off the stage. Everybody off the stage.' I see the road crew and a bunch of people running off the stage, taking Jason Aldean with him, running as fast as they could down the stairs. My first instinct was to get the flashlight on the stairs so that they can at least see where they're going. They weren't stopping. The shots were not stopping. They just kept going and going. And... I mean, the only thing that we could think of was just to run. Just to run. Guys, keep going please! Please! Get up, get up, get up! My boyfriend threw me to the floor, like trying to protect me, and it felt like a metal medicine ball, like a 100-pound medicine ball just landed on me. So it was like I got hit or I got shot. (GUNFIRE) I said to Sonny, 'We just need to get down.' And he said, 'No, we can't get down, cos we'll get trampled.' And that's when he... just wrapped his arms around me from behind, and we started running. And that's when I felt him get shot in the back, and we fell to the ground. I felt the impact of the bullet in his body, cos he was holding me. I think he could hear me at first. But I couldn't tell where he'd been shot from. I just saw a lot of blood. And I couldn't tell. I couldn't tell. And he couldn't talk to me. And I couldn't feel a pulse, so I started doing CPR. And there was still bullets flying all around us. I was pinned down, and I couldn't get out of there. I mean, you can hear the (IMITATES GUNFIRE) sounds. It sounded like the shots just raining through the tent flaps. You had no idea where the gunman was, where the shots were being fired from. Get out of here! There's gun shots coming from over there. Go that way. Uniformed police officers at the venue, they get pinned down, because they're right there with the crowd. Had their body cams on, and you can see them, sort of, the fear in like the unknown of where is this coming from? They're shooting right at us, guys. Where is it at? North of the Mandalay Bay. It's coming out of a window. And I decided that I wanted to record every single thing that was happening. I just thought, 'If I'm gonna die, I want my kids and my family... 'to know... to know that this is what happened.' You're seeing people plugging holes with their fingers, like, to stop the blood. You know, and ex-military telling everyone where to go, what to do. 'Stay low, keep moving, don't stop.' Go that way, go that way, go that way. I saw every single one of these police officers running towards the danger. It was all survival. But you saw the best out of everybody. There was a hero that ` in one of my videos ` that he ran out there. He risked his life and that man, he ` you'll see it ` he jumps out of the` out down. And he kind of looks around for gunfire, and then he goes out there to assist. And I don't know if he's alive. I hope to God he's alive. You could hear people shouting for help, and, 'Need a medic', and 'I've been shot'. It wasn't until we got around the corner,... that we seen a girl get hit. She was alive. Two seconds after we turned the corner and she dropped. She just dropped, weightless, like nothing I've ever seen before. Go! (GUNFIRE) Keep low! Get up! Let's go! Get up! Get up on your feet. On your feet. Let's go! On your feet. Thank you. Get down. I heard a gap in between. And I'm like, 'OK, he's reloading. You gotta get out. You gotta get out. 'Go now.' And I got up, and I ran. All I could think about was, 'Just run. I don't care what just happened. Just run, run, run.' Run! Don't walk! Run! Go! I mean, I was, like, it just is tunnel vision at a certain point. Everybody, go! I turned around, and I just basically, ran back towards the gunfire to help up as many people as I could. That's when it took a horrible turn for me. As I stood up, I took a shot to the neck. I told him I was an EMT and I wanted to work, and he pointed me to the tent. I grabbed some gloves and... and went to work. The shots coming from Mandalay Bay, halfway up. Once they realized that the fire is coming from the 32nd floor, the next point is to figure out where. I mean, this hotel is massive. So this one security guard who was unarmed begins to approach room 32-135. That's where Stephen Paddock is. Paddock is watching him through those surveillance cameras that he set up, and he starts opening fire, hitting the guard in the leg. Now, that provided police tactical teams the crucial intelligence they needed to know exactly where Stephen Paddock was. (SIRENS HOWL) As the SWAT teams entered the 32nd floor, they already understand they have never in American history experienced anything quite like this shooting, and they have no idea what's behind that door of room 135. And we'll take you behind that door and into room 135 when 20/20 continues. . Welcome back to 20/20. Tonight we have a special report on the Las Vegas shooting massacre at the Mandalay Bay hotel, as told by some of the survivors. As we continue, gunman Stephen Paddock has opened fire on the crowd at the Route 91 country music festival. An unknown number of people lie dead or wounded. But police now know where he is. However, his level of preparation is unlike anything seen before in the United States, and the police, well, they're walking into the unknown. The firing has stopped at this point, so it gives the SWAT team a time to take a breath and then begin to assess the situation, because what they don't want to do is get anybody hurt. What police didn't know is that as they were trying to peek towards his suite at the very end of the hallway, he had full eyes on them. We roughly have an hour from the time that the security guard is shot until the SWAT team makes an entry into Stephen's room. (EXPLOSION) So they use explosives that are particularly designed to blow doors. So it blows it back in the room, toward the bad guy. It creates such a blast that it also allows law enforcement to immediately come in behind the blast. He had killed himself. Now, he thought of everything, because he didn't use one of those rifles to kill himself; he used a handgun, right in his mouth. Also in the room you could see the huge numbers of empty shell casings for all the rounds he fired. They found his weapons. I believe a vast majority were long guns. If you look at what pictures that have been released so far, you see, I think, all the bump stock, which basically is a device when you place it on the gun, you can virtually put your finger on the trigger, and it literally will fire basically like an automatic weapon. Hey, you guys! Get down! Go that way! We wanna switch over to our Matt Gutman who is in Las Vegas at this very hour. Matt, what do you know? What are you hearing? What seems to be the pervading idea right now is that there's mass chaos; there is tremendous confusion; and really, this is a city under a tremendous amount of fear, not knowing what's going on. I heard a medic scream that she needed help. She was trying to start a line on Natalia. I said, 'What` Where's your wound?' And she said, 'I have been shot in the back.' I said, 'If you make it out there, I promise you I'll` I'll make sure you're safe.' And there was no ambulances out there. We had tactical people running out to our parking lot with their guns pulled. And they kept screaming, 'Get down. Get down. Active shooter. 'There's another shooter. There's multiple shooters.' Get out of here! There are gunshots coming from over there! Go that way! They had like their armour and stuff, and they kept telling us to go. And we just kept running across the street towards Tropicana. There must have been about 1000 people in the Tropicana, that I could see. A member of staff came in and said, 'The police have surrounded the building. 'We're on lockdown the safest place for you to be is right here on the casino floor.' It's weird how your brain goes into hyper-focus mode. Everything went tunnel vision, but in a way where everything was clear, and you can calculate every single decision you make. It just is tunnel vision at a certain point. You're paying attention to every single little thing. And yet it's a twilight zone. It's just` It's 'out of your body' experience. Keep your head down and run this way! It was really scary thinking about, like, 'I dunno if my sister is dead or just like OK, 'or if she` I don't know where she is.' So I said, 'Natalia, we have to` we have to take shelter behind this Suburban, and I'll figure it out.' So we hid behind the Suburban. And I found a little lawn chair that was underneath it, and I put her in it. And we had a tactical guy come by us and say, 'You guys have to get down,' and I'm holding an IV bag up. You guys OK? I need a rig. I need a rig. I need to get her transported. I sat down. I was like, 'Can I please call my dad?' So I called her dad, gave her the phone. And she was so calm and said, you know, 'Dad, I've been shot. I'm gonna be OK.' And I took the phone and I said, 'Sir, I'm gonna take care of your daughter. 'I don't know how I'm gonna get her to the hospital, but we'll get there.' Do we have any other wounded people to take? Not right now. Just go. OK. (HORN BLARES) Two men came and helped me carry Sonny off the field into a truck. Those two men performed CPR on Sonny the entire way to the hospital, which again seemed like an eternity, and we ended up at a small hospital that was not a trauma centre, but we were the first people there. And I see this Audi. Got the guy to come over, opened up his back door. And put Natalia in the back. She was getting numb. And I pulled out my phone. I was searching for pictures of my dog and my wife and my son, and she was just immediately lit up. It was so cute because his family is so beautiful. And I love dogs. So he showed me his dog. He was white and fluffy. It was cool to see, because this completely stranger is showing me his family. When we were rolling into the hospital, I saw my sister in the wheelchair. And she was hooked up on an IV, I believe, and she was just, like, crying. There's blood all over her, but I knew she was OK. So we, like, said 'we loved you', like loved each other, and we held hands. We never really do that, so it was, like, different. Seemed like forever, but it must have been two, three minutes to get to Sunrise Hospital. They took me out, and they were like, 'He has a GSW to the neck. He needs to go to Trauma One.' It wasn't very long before I knew that he had passed. I mean, really in my heart, I feel like it happened on the field. And they pronounced him. And I was right outside of the room when they did. And I just kissed him and hugged him. It's, like, 'How can this be real? 'How can I have come here to have a good time with my loved one and leave without them?' We got in the car and went the opposite way of the Strip. Went over barricades. We ran every red light we could. And just kept going until we hit the desert. I just remember my brother coming to the door, and I just hugged him so tight and we were both just crying. The first person I called was my son, and I said, 'Sweetheart, there's been a mass shooting. 'And I'm in it right now.' And I just told him, I said, 'I love you so much. 'You're the best son in the world. And I'm so proud of you.' I called my mom. And she was like, 'Are you all right?' And I was like, 'No. Like, Mom, I've been shot.' And they know me as a jokester. They thought I was playing, and I was like, 'Mom, I'll send you a picture right now.' She started balling tears. I really thought that was gonna be the last time that I would talk to anybody. I just remember the homicide detectives walking in to talk to me. And I just wanted to run away. I don't wanna be the person you need to talk to. But I am. We heard about two fatalities and a number of people wounded. And then once the press conferences started, basically in the middle of the night, and Sheriff Lombardo began talking, the numbers started rising. And... it's cliche to say, but it was surreal. We determined there was a shooter on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay. Officers responded to that location and engaged the suspect at that location. He is dead, but we are interested in a companion that is traveling with him, and her name is Marilou Danley. Marilou Danley has disappeared, but the police want to know where she is and, more importantly, what she knows. More after this. . Welcome back. Tonight on 20/20, we have a special report on the Las Vegas massacre that left 59 people dead, and that includes the gunman, Stephen Paddock. As our story continues, stunned survivors are still trying to come to terms with what happened, while police are trying to deal with the aftermath of the shootings and work out why and how it happened. Vegas made world news on its own just by being a tourist attraction, being a hotspot. And now we're` Now we're labelled something else now. The deadliest mass shooting in history has happened here in Las Vegas. It took me about a day and a half to try to wash this blood off that` somebody else's blood, who I don't even know. I don't want to say that I'm gonna have PTSD or anything, but there's a part of me that... it feels like I didn't do enough. That gets me the most. (SIGHS) I just wanted to be with my loved ones, and I just was shaking so bad. I just wanted to just disappear out of Las Vegas. The airport was re-secured and also started operations once again. I got home, that's when I ran to my son. And he just embraced me and picked me up and threw me around, and just really gave me the biggest bear hug ever. You still can't look her in the face? It's hard. That's the one thing that brings things back is, you know, it's` it's that. It's just little weird things like that. You look at her, and she's... Have you been consoling him? Yeah. How do you try to help him? Just try to be there for him. He'll kind of go and hide, and I'll just let him do his thing. And you know what he's doing when he goes to hide? Yeah, cos I know, like, he doesn't wanna express it in front of me. Why? I don't want her to relive what we went through. 59 people were killed in this attack. There are hundreds of patients at hospitals throughout Las Vegas. We're hoping to go home today. Just waiting for the mortuary to release Sonny. I am adamant that I'm not leaving here without him. I wanna get him home. I wanna see my kids. But my kids are anxious to be with me. So I need to` I need to get to them. In my wildest dreams, I would never imagine this scenario. I'm going back with two suitcases. And my husband's gonna be in the cargo. This is not how I want to fly back with him. It's just almost unbearable to think about it. In this case, what happened in Vegas is not going to stay in Vegas. Americans are going to change the way they perceive public spaces. In the aftermath of the shooting, the first thing that was critical was to figure out what was the motive, what drove him. Was he part of some domestic terror organisation? Did he have a grievance against Las Vegas or a particular casino? Was there an individual he was trying to harm? None of that has checked out so far. They've now even interviewed Las Vegas prostitutes who he was seen with, known by them as a regular client ` a cheap person that didn't display much emotion. They're still stumped as we speak about what was the motive for this man, what caused him to take this action. Right now, there's still FBI forensics teams in groups combing through that fairgrounds there, trying to make sure that they don't miss a single piece of evidence. Stephen is an odd duck from the standpoint that there appears to be no criminal history around him. He's a guy that sort of created, in my view, this mask of sanity, where he acts OK on the surface. That inside is unbelievable turmoil. And there was another major development. The gunman's long-time girlfriend, Marilou Danley, is now being called a person of interest. Marilou Danley arrived late Tuesday night on a flight from the Philippines. Authorities were hoping if they talked to her, they might learn more about the mindset of the shooter, about his motive. She claimed to had no knowledge, no knowledge at all, of what was going on in the house she shared with the shooter. Among law enforcement officials after her account, there was great scepticism based on the simple fact that how could she not notice something was going on? Stephen Paddock seems to be the personification of evil, but there also are these flickers of beauty, of humanity. People sacrificing their own safety for complete strangers. I've replayed that night in my head a million times. I'm here to surprise Natalia, and this incredible, wonderful spirit that I met on such a horrible night, on Sunday night at Route 91. You guys OK? I need a` I need to get her transported to the hospital. OK. It's very emotional even coming back to this hospital. It's` A lot of stuff happened here. You look stunning. I wanna give you a hug, because I've been` I didn't give you a hug for four days. Hi, love. How you doing? You OK? Thank you for coming. You're amazing. Thank you. I will be able to heal knowing that, you know, I made a difference, because there's a feeling that I didn't do enough. And I think a lot of us first responders feel that way because there is a lot of people who didn't make it. The reason I'm here tonight is because of Heather Milton. Her husband Sonny, who died. Over here. Section three, row F, there's some empty seats, and that's their seats. I don't want his name to be forgotten. And I want more people to know the name Sonny Melton than they know whoever that guy is who shot us. Something broke on me Sunday night when that happened, and the only way I ever fixed anything that's been broken in me is with music. So I wrote a song. # Yeah, when the morning sun hit the mount. This shirt has, kinda, become a symbol of him to me, and I'll always remember him wearing this shirt. I plan on burying Sonny in this shirt. # I asked the god of all-knowing wisdom # why you and why not me? Music brings people together. And coming together like that in response to an event like this, it helps everyone heal. When you see the faces of the victims, you see how different they were. There are people from all over the country. They were African Americans and Hispanics and gays and straights. A community that's not based on geography, that's not based on anything except love of the music. # Why you full of life and promise? # At the top of your lung so loud. # My songs that you sang so sweetly will remain in my ears forever. # And when the morning sun hits the mountain. # and a glorious still calms the breeze, # I'll ask the god of infinite wisdom # why you and why not me? The faces of the 58 victims, the lives of their families changed forever. Well, that's our show for tonight. Thank you for joining us. Kia ora. Nga mihi. Copyright Able 2017