Chester woman describes Las Vegas shooting

A Chester couple, Cathy and Rhett Rinne, were celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary in Las Vegas over the weekend, but never expected to be in the area of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Police say 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, of Mesquite, Nevada - from his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino - opened fire Sunday night on thousands of people attending a nearby outdoor country music festival on the street below.

As of Monday, at least 58 people were confirmed dead and more than 500 others were injured. Paddock later took his own life as law enforcement closed in.

"We were on Fremont Street trying to get a taxi back to our hotel, the Tropicana," Cathy said. "There were no taxis and we saw some officers in riot gear walking down the street and some businesses locking their doors.

"Law enforcement and security were in full view. We had no idea what was going on, but sensed that we needed to get back to our hotel."

A vallet later informed the couple that a mass shooting had taken place near their hotel.

"He advised we go inside the casino and remain vigilant," Cathy said. "He said if anything happened, we should get on an elevator and go to the highest floor and wait it out.

"We did for a while, but we were worried that Fremont could be another target since at that time they were reporting multiple shooters."

The couple later found a limousine company that agreed to take them back to their hotel for cash. All main roads were closed while police investigated the incident, so the driver had to use side streets and back roads to get around.

"We got as far as Excalibur (Hotel and Casino) when we were stopped and told we had to go inside and remain there," Cathy said. "At first we could be in the casino area, but we were later ushered to the third floor banquet rooms and hallways where we were patted down and given a bed sheet and bottled water."

Cathy said she and Rhett were gathered with about 500 other people, mainly concert-goers and some in blood-soaked clothing.

"We were crowded together until around 4:30 a.m., when they began to release us," she said.

Cathy added that her heart hurts for the victims and that she and Rhett had met some of the concert-goers earlier in the weekend at the hotel pool.

Photos Cathy shared on Facebook Monday morning show the Route 91 Harvest Festival stage outside their hotel window.

"We have no way to know if they survived or not," she said. "There were people frantically searching for loved ones or friends because people fled the concert venue in utter chaos.

"I cannot imagine what the people went through. They were dazed and confused and none of us were getting any updates other than what we could get from our cell phones."

"We were not allowed to take any photos while we were being detained," she added. "All-in-all, the hotels did their best to accommodate everyone."

Further north on the Strip, the honeymooning couple of Wesley Morgan and Taylor (Crum) Morgan checked into The Venetian Hotel around 7 p.m. Sunday, roughly three hours before the shooting started.

They had gotten married the day before.

"We actually are road tripping and Vegas was our first stop," said Taylor, who is from Chester and was speaking for the couple. "We got here (Sunday) night and stayed at The Venetian Hotel, which I think is about 2 miles down the strip from where the incident happened."

Taylor said the couple were planning on walking the whole Strip later that night after dinner.

"We were so exhausted from our wedding/travels that we fell asleep after we got back from dinner around 10 to change into comfortable shoes and rest a bit," Taylor said. "We woke up around 11:30 p.m. to go walk the Strip, but then we both had received texts from friends saying there was an active shooter at Mandalay Bay and then we heard the sirens and the panic outside from our window."

The couple decided to stay in their hotel that night.

"When we went to bed after that we heard there were only two confirmed deaths," Taylor said. "But then we both woke up around 3:30 a.m. this morning to phone calls and texts from people asking if we were okay and then we found out that it was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history."

Taylor said the couple left Vegas today as planned to continue their honeymoon in California.

"We're extremely heartbroken for all of those who have been affected by the shooting," she said. "We are still in shock. On the other hand we are extremely thankful we happened to not go out on the Strip like we intended to."

Taylor also recollected a thought she had as the couple was walking to dinner around 8:30 p.m.

"The craziest part about this situation for us is that when we were walking on the Strip last night to dinner, I thought to myself, 'Vegas is so open and there's so many people that someone with a gun could come on the Strip and start shooting at any point and I'm surprised something like that hasn't already happened with the world we live in,'" she said. "And then hours later a shooting happened down the road."