It might have been a cigarette that saved Tony McDonald's life Sunday, when the mass shooting started at an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.

McDonald, an electrician from Inuvik, N.W.T., said he was "right in the middle of the crowd" at the Jason Aldean concert when he decided to step off to the side for a smoke break.

"That's when the gunfire started happening," said the 26-year-old McDonald, who was with a buddy at the time.

McDonald said at first, he looked around for fireworks.

"When people started running towards us, we knew that wasn't the case."

That's when McDonald said they bolted for the nearest exit.

A 'war zone'

McDonald said he went from shelter to shelter throughout the chaos — from the Tropicana Las Vegas hotel to the MGM Grand casino — saying he changed locations in panic after hearing about multiple shooters.

He said the possibility of more than one shooter was the main thought on his mind at the time.

"To me, it felt like a war zone. So many bullets flying, so much gunshots heard, and so many people running," he said.

McDonald eventually found refuge after a stranger offered to drive him to safety, while he was "running in the middle of the road."

McDonald said he fell a few times, and despite being "shooken up," he's in good condition.

Monday morning, he told CBC News that he's packed up and ready to drive back up to Canada.

"We're getting outta here as fast as we can," said McDonald.

"I'm never coming back here again."

Northerner at Mandalay Bay hotel

Mikey McBryan, one of the stars of the reality television show Ice Pilots NWT, was outside the front doors of the Mandalay Bay hotel on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday night when police cars pulled up.

McBryan said police told him there was a shooter in the building — but in the confusion of the moment, he said he ran towards the outdoor country music festival, targeted by the shooter.

Mikey McBryan and his girlfriend, Stella Heidorn, hid behind an electrical box at a gas station. (Submitted by Mikey McBryan)

"We didn't know that the shooter was shooting from the Mandalay Bay across the street, and we actually ran across the street into the worst part. We hid there for a bit," McBryan said.

McBryan and his girlfriend, Stella Heidorn, hid behind an electrical box at a gas station.

He called parents to let them know he was safe, but then seeing the shock on concertgoers' faces, he said he realized they had actually fled towards the targeted area.

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"We were just standing on the sidewalk and it was just surreal," said McBryan. "You almost feel like you're watching a movie, and then it gets real really quick, and then you realize you're safe and you kinda step back a bit."

At that point, he said they joined the crowds walking away from the Strip.

"It was just a weird kind of terror and relief, but still a kind of curiosity. It's hard to explain. I was peeking behind, I wanted to see what was going on."

Further out, cars stopped to ask what was happening and he said a woman offered to drive them back to their hotel, which was in a different part of town.

He says some friends bunked with him overnight because their hotels were in an area cordoned off by police.

No tickets to concert

"It's hard to process everything. I'm watching it, just like everybody, on the news. It's almost like you're removed from it now. It'll probably take me a while to figure out what happened, really."

McBryan and some of his friends had spent the day at the Mandalay's pool, because his sister, Kathy McBryan, and his nieces were staying in the hotel.

He says his sister woke up to SWAT teams entering her room because she was in the same elevator bank of the hotel as the shooter.

McBryan says his sister and nieces had wanted to attend the concert that evening, but were unable to get tickets.

Before the incident, McBryan said he had one of the best days he's ever had in Las Vegas, and is still processing how fast that changed.

McBryan is scheduled to return to Yellowknife on Tuesday.