'1 Crazy, Insane Nut Made This All Happen': Las Vegas Mayor On Mass Shooting

NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman about the mass shooting on the Strip that killed at least 58 people and injured some 515 people.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

As soon as she got word of the shooting last night, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman went to a different hospital, University Medical Center, where she spoke with some of the incoming patients. She said many of them described being confused when they first heard gunfire.

CAROLYN GOODMAN: I said, did you have a sense of where it was coming from? And because of technology and the speakers, you know, that are there in these big concerts, it really threw some of them off as to where they thought the shots were coming from. But most of them - I would say all but one person with whom I spoke said it was just this (imitating gunfire) - just constant, just tragic.

SIEGEL: Mayor Goodman, I assume that by the time people arrived at the emergency room, they were still - I assume they were still pretty shaken by what had just happened.

GOODMAN: You know, I think that so many of them of course were in shock. And you know, first of all, thank heavens for cellphones. But so many of the - those that were hit that were admitted really hadn't even had a chance to find if their loved one was injured or where they were.

SIEGEL: Was there any particular exchange with somebody at the emergency department of the hospital that sticks with you especially today?

GOODMAN: You know, there were just - there were such different kinds of wounds. I mean, some of them of course - we had the most incredible team in our trauma unit there. And as the patients were coming in, those that were really - you could tell they were severely injured because there was so much blood, and there was no movement on the gurney. But the team was so incredible. There would be eight or 10 that would meet the gurney as it came in the door and everybody working so hard.

And then immediately, those who had to go off to surgery - everybody just came in, even those who were students at the school - in the University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Medicine. I mean, the nurses - I can't tell you - even the custodial help out there immediately with issues of cleanliness and just - it was the most incredible response.

SIEGEL: And just very quickly, if people are listening and wondering what Las Vegas needs, what they might be able to do for your city, what would you say?

GOODMAN: Well, love and prayers for sure. We opened a fund for those whose families are taking on undue hardship financially, that are on able to do it. So the sheriff has opened a fund. But my plea had always been blood first because even one of our hospitals had to go to a different hospital to get blood which came from last week's donors. But today, it's the prayers, and just really keep everybody in your thoughts and know that we, too - we will rise above this. But prayers for those who lost family members and friends - so very sad.

SIEGEL: Mayor Goodman, thanks so much for talking with us today.

GOODMAN: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

SIEGEL: That was Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman speaking earlier today.

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.