Polson officer recounts Las Vegas shooting

Two jumbotrons situated on either side of a stage on South Las Vegas Avenue faded to black after a camera on one side fell.

Music cut out and the artist, Jason Aldean, and his crew exited the stage.

Backup floodlights switched on after the lights illuminating the stage went dark.

A sea of 22,000-some people stood around in the night, some confused, some terrified.

A gunman shot into the crowd from a hotel room 32 floors above the event.

As shots rang out, Polson Police Officer Cody Doyle, who was off-duty, was attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1.

He recalled hearing a “popping” sound which he thought was fireworks distorted by microphones that pushed the sound, along with the music, back into the crowd.

“It was definitely a terrifying experience,” he said, staring at the wall as he remembered the tragic turn of events.

Standing “maybe 20 yards” from stage, Doyle explained the group was “stage right,” or on the left side if looking at the performers from the audience.

Doyle was in Las Vegas to celebrate the upcoming wedding of his best friend.

In all, there were 20 people in his group that attended the concert, which is an event his friends attend each year, standing in the same area.

“We were there, all the bands were playing, Jason Aldean was five or six songs in his set, and we heard kind of what sounded to me like fireworks,” Doyle recalled.

“It was real strange, the sound.”

At first the gunfire lasted a couple of seconds, leaving Doyle confused.

“And then a few seconds went by and we heard a lot of pops in a long succession, maybe six or eight seconds, of solid pops.”

At that point, Doyle said he thought that the audio equipment was faulting.

“Everyone was kind of looking around and was kind of confused,” and the band still played.

The point at which Doyle grew concerned was when a camera dropped and the screens faded.

“We heard the first of what I could (tell) was gunfire coming from somewhere,” said Doyle.

After that, the volleys kept “going and going.”

The group of friends first huddled together from instinct, then got lower to the ground.

Breaking into smaller groups, Doyle said he shielded his best friends from where the gunfire was coming.

“I decided it was time to leave” as he pieced together what was happening, while others in the crowd were still standing, confused.

Doyle and his friends were among the first groups of people to leave the scene.

“We went through a drink vendor booth to the back and then we started… headed toward an exit” to escape the situation.

Along the way out of the concert perimeter, Doyle said that’s when the reality of this the situation began to hit.

He recalled seeing people lying motionless on the ground, covered in blood, he noted they weren’t moving.

“The only thing I could think of…Is there are multiple people shooting,” Doyle said, because by this point he and his three friends were on the far side of the venue from where they originally stood.

As people realized what was happening, the throngs of concertgoers were in a state of “sheer panic.”

Applying his crisis training, Doyle said he tried keeping people as calm as possible.

“I didn’t want people to get trampled” causing further injuries, he recalled.

Running in the opposite direction of the gunfire, three friends and Doyle headed away from the Strip.

For the next mile and a half, the four ran through building lobbies, eventually stopping at a motel.

Doyle confirmed that no one from his original group of 20 was injured.

As the events unfolded, he said he thought of his family back home (fiance Tressa and their three kids) while getting his friends as far from the gunfire as possible.

A couple was standing at the motel, wondering why there was law enforcement and ambulances rushing by, and Doyle said that the four friends told the couple what was happening, then asked to “hide out” in their room, together.

“They graciously took us in,” he said, noting that the now six people sat and watch the news and continued making contact with loved ones, assuring they were all okay.

At about 2 or 3 a.m. on Oct. 2, Doyle said that his group decided to meet at a shelter that was set up as a meeting place for anyone separated from friends and family members.

Meeting up with a few more friends, they waited until 6 or 7 that morning, when surrounding hotels and areas were opening back to the public.

Doyle said that the rest of the group was met after they were released from the Aria hotel, where they hid in an electrical closet.

Packing up belongings, Doyle said that his friends dropped him off at the airport and he “headed for home.”

Noting that his flight back to Montana was departing at noon, Doyle said he arrived at the airport at about 8 a.m. because “at that point I wanted to go home.”

While Doyle was running away from the scene, he said he tried calling Tressa, but his phone wasn’t connecting from overused circuits, Doyle suspects.

He called his father, as his parents were helping out with the kids while Doyle was out of town, and told him there was an active shooter and he was okay.

Once Tressa knew of the situation, Doyle said he kept her updated with his whereabouts.

Tressa took the day off work to meet Doyle at the airport in Missoula, along with their children and his parents.

Doyle said that although he was off-duty, his emotions ran “the whole gamut” of emotions a person can experience in a high-stress situation.

“At first, I was worried then I was really upset, mad, that someone was doing this, then I was mad that” he wasn’t allowed to carry his concealed weapon, for which he has a permit, because of venue rules.

“I was mad, then I was concerned for my friends then I was scared. I was sad for the people I saw. They were mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters,” he said.

Within the large group of friends, Doyle said there were three off-duty officers as well as retired military members and emergency medical technicians.

“It was probably the best group to have in that situation,” he noted.

Since the shooting, which has been called the largest mass-casualty shooting in modern-day history in the country by multiple national news outlets, Doyle said that he’s been following the news, waiting to see what new information will be told.

Rather than focus on the shooter, Doyle said he’s trying to focus on positivity.

“That’s one thing I’ve been focusing on… I want to hear everyone’s story.”

One thing that “amazed” Doyle was the support from citizens of Las Vegas.

“When everyone was waking up and seeing everything on the news, there was an outpouring of people who came to help,” Doyle said, adding that residents lined up to start donating blood or found shelters to donate clothes and food to the displaced concertgoers.

“It was amazing. It made me thankful for the good people out there.”