Portland Recording Engineer Larry Crane Writes Firsthand Account of Las Vegas Shooting

When a gunman opened fire on a country music festival being held on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday night, killing over 50 people and injuring hundreds more, Larry Crane was staying less than a mile away, at the Tropicana.

Crane, the Portland recording engineer and owner of famed Jackpot! Recording Studio, was in town for a Depeche Mode concert. At the time the shooting started, he and his wife were finishing dinner at the Mirage, about two and a half miles from the site of the Route 91 Harvest Festival. In an account posted on the Facebook page of Tape Op, the magazine he founded in 1996, Crane described the panic that ensued when news of the attack broke.

"We retreated into the casino to get away from entrances, not sure if this was some sort of roving pack of killers or a single incident," Crane wrote. "As we got near the back of the casino people began running and screaming towards us in a panic. We fled into a bathroom with others, and hid in a stall for a while."

Crane and his wife spent the next few hours on lock down inside the casino, but didn't return to the Tropicana until the morning. Flying out the next day, Crane reported seeing injured and sobbing people at the airport.

"I hope that festival organizers are not afraid to gather people to enjoy music," he wrote. "I hope that fans will follow the music they love to enjoy it live. And I hope something like this never happens again.

Read his full account below:

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