Mass shootings have been on the rise in the United States since the
early 2000s, but until the heartbreak of the 1 October 2017 Route 91
Harvest Music Festival, the citizens of Las Vegas had never experienced
the violence and tragedy of this now all-too-frequent occurrence. That
day, fifty-eight people were shot to death on site, while another two
victims later died of their injuries. The 1 October incident physically
wounded nearly 900 concert-goers, but psychologically impacted countless
untold victims.
As individual and institutional response to urgent requests for help
came in both during and after the 1 October catastrophe, those who call
Las Vegas home struggled to cope with pain and grief. Now, editor
Roberta Sabbath draws together a collection of personal essays, oral
histories, interviews, scholarly writings, and commentaries to remember
those whose lives were lost, and to honor survivors and their loved
ones. Written five years after the tragedy, each contribution offers a
unique story of healing, demonstrating the wide-ranging experiences and
repercussions of the event. The essays in this collection represent a
broad diversity of voices from political leaders, health professionals,
first responders, community members, and incident survivors. This work
is dedicated to those who lost their lives on 1 October 2017, to
survivors and their loved ones, and to the caregivers--both individual
and institutional--all of whom continue to keep Vegas Strong.
