On paper, the Las Vegas Shooting left 58 people dead and 548 people injured, but unofficially the casualty list is higher and growing. I write this with a heavy heart and sadness, but I want people to never forget this tragedy and to look out for the survivors if they know any. A tragic incident where people get gunned down from above is hard. I’m going to talk about the death of four Las Vegas Shooting survivors and one family member of a victim. Not all of these deaths are current news, but all seem to have a commonality of the struggle of coping with the Las Vegas Shooting.
Roy McClellan
According to Fox News, Roy McClellan was killed in a hit an run while hitchhiking about 50 miles west of Las Vegas. On Friday, Denise posted on Facebook that Roy had “stormed off” after a fight with a friend the night before he died.
Roy McClellan died Nov. 17 while hitchhiking on State Route 160 in Pahrump, about 50 miles west of Las Vegas. “I don’t understand why he wasn’t taken at the shooting, but a month later he was taken this way,” McClellan’s wife, Denise, told KSNV. “I hope my husband found peace and he’s safe now.”
Denise McClellan told KSNV that the shooting “was really messing with Roy’s head and he was going to therapy.”
Sheryl Stiles
NY Daily News reports that the mother of a slain cop killed in the Las Vegas shooting massacre suffered a heart attack and then died two days after her son’s funeral. Sheryl Stiles fell while riding a hotel escalator and suffered a heart attack after attending Metro Police Officer Charleston Hartfield’s funeral in Las Vegas Friday, the Las Vegas Journal-Review reported.
Stiles’ family believes she died of a broken heart.
Dennis and Lorraine Carver
A California couple who survived gunfire at the Las Vegas music festival died weeks later in a car accident, authorities report.
Dennis Carver leaped on top of his wife, Lorraine Carver, to shield her from the flying bullets on Oct. 1, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. During a lull in gunfire, the couple got up and ran for their lives.
“That’s just the kind of love they had for each other,” Brooke Carver, the couple’s oldest daughter, told the newspaper. “Their love was selfless.”
NY Daily News reported that they died in a car accident a short distance from their home.
Two days later, they arrived safely to their Riverside County home in California. They were more in love than ever in the following weeks, according to Brooke Carver.
“They were so happy,” Brooke Carver, 20, said. “The last two weeks of their lives were really just spent living in the moment.”
She said Dennis Carver sent roses to Lorraine Carver — not for a special occasion, but just to show he loved her.
Their vehicle crashed into a metal gate, according to the Riverside County Fire Department. It took firefighters nearly an hour to completely put out the fire, the department said in a statement.
While mourning their parents, Madison and Brooke take comfort in the now dried-up roses Dennis Carver gave to his wife. The flowers seem perfectly preserved almost a month later — not a single pedal had fallen, Brooke Carver said.
Kymberley Suchomel
The Heavy reports that Kymberley Suchomel, 28, survived the Las Vegas shooting, only to tragically die a week later in her sleep. Since her death, she has become the focus of rumors centered on posts she may have written on Facebook, allegedly believing that there was more than one shooter at the concert.
Kymberley was young and had an exciting life ahead of her. Tragically, she passed away unexpectedly on October 9, just a week after the shooting. Her grandmother, Julie Norton, told VV Daily Press that Kymberley may have died in her sleep after her husband, Mike, left for work at 4:30 a.m.
Kymberley has epilepsy and was often prone to seizures,
Kymberley was married to Michael Suchomel and she had a young daughter, Scarlett. She was only 28 when she died. Her grandmother told the Daily Press “I believe the stress from the shooting took her life.”
From stories she shared with the Daily Press, it appeared that Kymberley was haunted by the shooting. She said that she feared falling asleep because the sounds of gunfire became louder in her head and she kept imagining seeing “broken and bloody bodies.” On Facebook, she said that sound of her alarm or loud voices made her heart race. When her daughter threw her toys or moved too fast, her heard would race.
Final Thoughts
These people ought to be included when we remember those who died. The old saying “That which does not kill you only makes you stronger” proves highly untrue. The survivors and victim’s families need help getting through this. These people don’t need legislation; they need our help if we know them and our prayers. As the casualties grow, I am continually frustrated with the lack of answers. Were there multiple shooters? Why did this happen? And how did this happen? The Las Vegas Shooting is a tragedy that keeps growing and one that we cannot forget as the survivors and victim’s families continue their lives.
Further Reading
The heroes and witnesses of the Mandalay Massacre In Las Vegas
The stories of sacrifice and heroism in Las Vegas during the largest mass murder in US history are truly inspiring. There are many out there, but some of them just grab you by the heart and won’t let go. 59 people are dead and 527 are in local hospitals after Stephen Paddock, a 64 year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada, shot into a crowd of over 22,000 at a country music festival across from the Mandalay Bay where he was located on the 32nd floor. He had a suite with two rooms and had two stands set up as far as I can tell. He had 12 or 13 weapons at his disposal. A number of them were illegally converted to fully automatic weaponry. They also found explosives and triggers in his car and homes, as well as 18 other guns. The guns were purchased in at least four states over time. This was well-planned and premeditated murder on an epic scale.
