On Las Vegas shooting anniversary, a call for hope amid sadness

USA Today NetworkSiobhan McAndrew, Reno Gazette Journal Published 9:40 a.m. CT Oct. 1, 2018 | Updated 2:07 a.m. CT Oct. 2, 2018

Las Vegas marquees go dark on the anniversary of the Route 91 festival massacre. 58 people were killed in, what became, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. USA TODAY

LAS VEGAS – It was Mynda Smith who offered hope to the hundreds gathered at a ceremony to remember Oct. 1, 2017.

Smith’s sister Neysa Davis Tonks was one of the 58 people killed a year ago at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. She was a single mother of three sons.

Smith eulogized her sister while offering hope to those gathered in a day of remembrance to honor the one-year anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

“Our love must motivate us to move forward,” Smith said. “We have the right to feel angry and sad. Embrace those emotions, but don’t let them control you.”

On Oct. 1, 2017, at 10:05 p.m. Pacific time, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock broke through the window of his suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and fired at 22,000 people gathered at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, listening to Jason Aldean wrapping up the night's show.

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The early-morning event to honor that day included comments from Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Las Vegas Metro Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo. Two employees of Mandalay Bay, including security guard Jesus Campo, were on stage and recognized but did not speak. Both declined interview requests.

"We will never fully recover from that fateful night, nor should we," Sandoval told the crowd of hundreds gathered at an outdoor amphitheater in downtown Las Vegas. "But from that night of Nevada infamy came one of our proudest moments. We became one people, one community, one family. We cried. We grieved, and we resolved to become Vegas strong."

Sandoval said he was going to attend other remembrance events including a blood drive and prayer service.

At 10:01 p.m. local time, the Vegas Strip will go dark as casinos and others will turn out marquee signs.

Smith put a face and a family on what was lost a year ago.

“Today, I stand here with so much pride for our city and our country,” she said. “I have learned and watched firsthand the meaning of being Vegas strong.”

She said none of the 58 families will be the same. She took the time to point out the magnitude of how this shooting affected the country.

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“Out of our angels, 33 were from California, seven were from Nevada, four were from Canada, two were from Alaska, two were from Utah, one was from Arizona, one Colorado, one Iowa, one Massachusetts, one Minnesota, one New Mexico, one Pennsylvania, one Tennessee, one Washington and one from West Virginia."

She told the crowd to not let evil win.

“We must continue to fight. I refuse to let it take one more thing from me. It took my nephews' mom, my parents' daughter, my sister and so many more hurt by her loss."

Smith and her parents started a scholarship fund through the Nevada Community Foundation.

The Children of the 58 Loved and Never Forgotten Scholarship Fund will pay for post-high school scholarships for the 55 children who lost a parent that day.

“We hope it inspires them to dream big despite this horrific loss in their lives,” Smith said.

Robyn Wolfe, whose husband, Bill, was killed in the massacre, also attended the early-morning ceremony.

The Pennsylvania couple were celebrating their 20th anniversary when he was killed at the music festival.

Bill Wolfe, 42, was a popular Shippensburg (Pennsylvania) Little League and wrestling coach.

The Shippensburg Greyhound Wrestling organization noted the "tremendous loss" in a brief written statement Monday: "The past year has been one of adjustment to the tremendous loss in our community and our program. We wish to thank everyone for their support."

In Las Vegas on Monday, Robin Wolfe said, "He died immediately. I checked for a pulse and then had to run."

She said she felt like she had to be in Vegas on Monday.

"I just had this feeling that this is where I needed to be."

Contributing: Ashley Books, Chambersburg (Pa.) Public Opinion. Follow Siobhan McAndrew on Twitter: @Siobhanmcandrew

People gather at a memorial set up next to the welcome to Las Vegas sign as Las Vegas remembers the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival one year later on Oct. 1, 2018. Jason Bean/RGJ

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