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Updated: 4pm
A NURSE WHO died protecting his wife, and a school teacher who’d gone to the concert with her childhood sweetheart – the first victims of Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas have been named.
Tributes have begun to pour in, after the worst mass shooting in US history.
At least 59 people were killed and 500 were injured when a heavily armed gunman opened fire from his hotel room onto an open-air country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Sonny Melton
Sonny Melton, a 29-year-old nurse from Tennessee, was shot and killed while attending the concert with his wife, Heather.
In a statement, his employers Henry County Medical Center said that its thoughts and prayers were with their families.
In an interview with WSMV, Heather Melton said her husband saved her life during the gunfire.
She said: “He saved my life. He grabbed me and started running when I felt him get shot in the back.
I want everyone to know what a kind-hearted, loving man he was, but at this point, I can barely breathe.
Adrian Murfitt
Adrian Murfitt, 35, was a commercial fisherman in Anchorage, Alaska.
His sister, Shannon Gothard, said the family had heard the news from a friend he was attending the concert with.
Gothard described her brother as a man with a hearty laugh and a former competitive hockey player who still dabbled in the game. “His whole life was always around hockey,” she said.
He had just come off an extremely successful fishing season when he made the trip to Las Vegas with some good friends, Gothard said.
Her brother “was happy to pay some things off and had made some really good money and decided to go out and celebrate and go to the concert and treat himself to something nice and fun,” she said.
Rachael Parker
Rachael Parker was shot and rushed to hospital where she later died.
The 33-year-old worked as a records technician for the police department in Manhattan Beach in California.
Colleagues said that she had worked there for 10 years, and will be “greatly missed”.
She was one of four off-duty Manhattan Beach officers at the concert.
Michael Gracia
A four-year veteran of the Ontario, California, police department was shot in the head during Sunday’s shooting, Ontario Police Sgt. Jeff Higbee said.
Officer Michael Gracia was injured, as was his girlfriend, and his condition is described as critical.
“He’s always real personable, upbeat, a real friendly guy,” Higbee said.
Sandra Casey
Sandy Casey, a middle school special education teacher living in Redondo Beach, California, was also among those killed.
“This is unbelievably tragic and sad,” Mike Matthews, superintendent of the Manhattan Beach School District, wrote in morning letter to the district yesterday. “This loss is impacting many of our staff members deeply.”
Casey was at the Las Vegas concert with her fiancé and a friend, who were not injured, O’Leary said. Most of Casey’s extended family lives in Vermont, she said.
“They’re receiving a lot of support and love, the best you can do with an unbelievable tragedy,” she said.
The family is discussing setting up a scholarship in Casey’s name.
Susan Smith
Susan Smith, a 53-year-old from Simi Valley near Los Angeles in California had worked as office manager at Vista Elementary School since 2001.
“Susan was wonderful with the kids and the staff and was an integral part of the school community here,” said Jake Finch, the public information officer for the district.
She was the hub of everything that happened at the school. If a kid is sick, she’s the one calling the parents and no matter how chaotic things got here, she was always smiling.
Jordan McIldoon
The 23-year-old mechanic was shot dead as he attended the festival with his fianceé.
British Columbia Premier John Horgan said in a statement that Mclldoon, a mechanic’s apprentice, was among those killed.
“We only had one child,” Al and Angela McIldoon, told the CBC. “We just don’t know what to do.”
Bailey Schweitzer
Dana Gardner
The mother was shot dead as she attended the festival with her daughter.
Jessica Klymchuk
Jessica Klymchuk, of Valleyview, Alberta, Canada, died on Sunday night in Las Vegas.
Klymchuk, 28, was an educational assistant, librarian and bus driver for St Stephen’s School, said the Holy Family Catholic Regional Division.
Quinton Robbins
Rhonda LeRocque
Irish reaction
Several books of condolence are currently being signed across Ireland for the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting.
Books were opened in Clare and Cork while the US embassy in Dublin asked people to send messages via social media.
The Cork book opened at 2.30pm today by Mayor Declan Hurley.
Meanwhile, Clare County Council opened theirs at Áras Contae an Chláir in Ennis in memory of the victims. Mayor Tom McNamara and Pat Dowling, chief executive of the council, were the first to sign the book.
Mayor McNamara said: “On behalf of Clare County Council and the people of Clare, I wish to extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to the friends and families of the victims of this attack. I wish the people of the United States of America strength as they seek to overcome such a brutal and indiscriminate attack.”
The US embassy in Dublin issued a statement telling of its horror in the aftermath of the attack. A statement on its Facebook page read: “The US Embassy joins all Americans, Irish, and people around the world in expressing our condolences to the victims and families of the horrific attack in Las Vegas. If you’d like to leave a message of condolence, please do so.”
There were also tributes paid to the dead and injured in the Dáíl today during Leaders’ Questions.
Both Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar began by paying tribute to those that died in the shooting in Las Vegas.
“In the faces of such horror and tragedy we stand in solidarity with our friends in the United States,” said Varadkar.
He said it was an “attack on all citizens”. The Taoiseach said he sent a message to US President Trump yesterday to state that they are standing in solidarity with them all.
With reporting from the Associated Press and Garreth MacNamee
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Didn’t think we had woodpeckers in ireland
@liam mc meel: shoot
@Philip Murphy: shoot them or se
@liam mc meel: I’ve been listening to them chipping away at the trees for a good few years now. Sounds like a machine gun being shot in the distance
@michael odwyer: Indeed! They can heard rattling away at the metal tops of telegraph poles along the banks of Lough Erne. Some noise to experience!
@liam mc meel: they are pecking up their passports on the way over.
@liam mc meel: only in last 20 years. They flew in from Wales.
@liam mc meel: It’s amazing, I’ve never seen one here. I was going to say they’re very striking :-D
Ha ha ha HA ha, Ha ha ha HA ha, heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!
Can’t comment on Finland taking action on illegal immigration. Why?
@paulinlavally@gmail.com: because the government told them not to let you
How about the so called professionals ESB put the electrical infrastructure underground? No let’s blame the woodpecker. And the top brass are earning €100,000s.
@robbie scanlon: How much do you think it would cost to put all the cables underground, billions? Are you willing to pay this extra on your bill? We allow one off developments and this is some of the cost associated with it.
@The next small thing: The cost, the cost, oh what about the cost.
These people are making hundreds of millions per year, let them upgrade their own infrastructure or get out of the game and let someone in that will think of everyone, including our animals.
You wanna punish the animal for getting in the way of capitalism!
@David: Bless your naivety if you think the end customer won’t pay the cost. I never mentioned animals in my comment so I don’t know why you brought that up however seeing as you have then surely you are against one off developments which destroys their habitat.
@robbie scanlon: why not blame the Donald
These woodpeckers are live wires with no forwarding address or postal code for billing purposes
@Jerry Collins: brilliant!!
They’re Welsh, not Poles. [Insert rant of choice about migrants]
Still not as irritating as the noise Mary Toilet makes when she opens her gob
@Peter Murray: and now your having a conversation with yourself
@Peter Murray: jeez Man are you ok??
Are those woodpeckers migrants from Wales.Shouldnt they be in direct provision and be made to apply for asylum
Wood (oops Would) treating telegraph poles with tar deter woodpeckers from damaging them?
@Garreth Byrne:
Not much fun if you are the worker that has to climb that pole after….
@Garreth Byrne: Or maybe change the material of the pole and stop punishing the wood pecker for being a wood pecker?
Nial “Hatch”…….. born for the job:)
@Edward Hughes: Ya gotta wonder if the name provoked his interest.
Amazing to have so many of them they run out of trees. We need more native trees and less conifer plantations…
Everyone says I’m paranoid for starting these Morse code lessons ,but I’m positive those woodpeckers are talking sh,t .
Seriously though, why have shops stopped stocking strawberries? Usually imported from Spain this time of year.
@Fintan Stack: oh Maaann!! Good point even though it’s such a First World problem… I used to grow my own I’d defo recommend it x
@Fintan Stack: parsnips from Spain too
Pesky woodpeckers, coming over here, taking our poles, messing with our trees! Round them all up and send them back! ;- )
@Mick Hanna: lol love it!!
These woodpeckers are live wires
Are these immigrant woodpeckers ?
Woodpeckers will not eat timber treated with creosote
Would these nests effect the overall structure safety and useable of these poles. I wouldn’t think so why not leave be.
Is this English?
Would these nests effect the overall structure safety and useable of these poles. I wouldn’t think so why not leave be.
@J M: “affect”. Apparently they do, since they are causing power outages.
Would these nests effect the overall structure safety and useable of these poles. I wouldn’t think so why not leave be.
Is this meant to be English?
Would they not set up the old poles they had to replace, so the birds can still nest in them? Or add new ones nearby that are shielded & leave the inhabited ones in place?
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