Sean C. Morgan
A Sweet Home resident who left the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert in Las Vegas an hour prior to the Oct. 1 shooting, which left 59 people dead and hundreds injured, says he has mixed emotions that are hard to articulate.
Ron Moore was at the country music festival with his wife Angie and neighbors Joe and Susan Couch.
“We happened to leave an hour before the shooting,” Moore said. “We’re fortunate we left for whatever reason. I feel for the people that were there. It’s hard to explain. It’s a weird feeling.
“Just talking about it gives me mixed emotions – the best way to say it.”
The group took in Big and Rich and Jake Owen concerts before heading to the second stage to watch Luke Combs.
The crowd started getting pretty big,” Moore said, and the four decided they’d had their fill of concerts, especially since they had just seen Jason Aldean in August at the Oregon Jamboree in Sweet Home.
Ron Moore is current president of the Sweet Home Economic Development Group, which puts on the Jamboree.
They returned to the Hard Rock Hotel, which is located off the strip several blocks to the northeast of Mandalay Bay where Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nev., opened fire on concertgoers watching Aldean, leaving 58 dead and about 500 injured. The gunman later killed himself, according to authorities.
Moore’s group had ordered dinner from an oyster bar when they heard the news.
“It popped up on the TV that there was an active shooter on the Strip,” Moore said. Ten to 15 minutes later, with more information, “we realized it was at the concert.”
Moore stayed awake into the early morning watching the news, he said. He also texted close family and friends to let them know they were OK. By morning, the group’s phones were “blowing up” with questions. They marked themselves “safe” using Facebook although they did not post immediately.
They returned home on Monday, Oct. 2, in time for Moore to make it to his son Tye Moore’s football game.
“People ask about your story,” Moore said. “Fortunately, for us there’s not too much to our story.”