Las Vegas, Nevada — Some of Medford’s own local radio DJ’s were among the thousands attending the 3-day country music festival in Las Vegas. Q-100.3’s Bryce Burtner was watching the final performance with his wife Sunday night, when bullets started flying. He and his wife are okay, but understandably shaken and shocked by what they witnessed.
“[There] were 3 to 5 dead bodies that we saw on our walk back to the hotel room,” Bryce Burtner says, “not something you’re going to forget anytime in the near future.”
From a hotel room in Las Vegas, Burtner recounts the terrifying moments that unfolded before him.
“Jason Aldean took the stage, did all of about 5 or 6 songs, and all of a sudden I heard a couple of pops,” Burtner says.
Within moments, he realized the fireworks he thought he was hearing, weren’t fireworks at all.
“This isn’t fireworks, there’s nothing up in the air, there’s nothing down here on the ground it’s possibly time to take cover or run,” Burtner explained, “we had no idea where the shots were coming from. One of the worst things you could ever feel is not knowing which way to run.”
The group they were with, all took off in different directions. Bryce and his wife jumped a wall of the arena to escape.
“There was a guy standing there helping people get over it, he’s a hero,” Burtner says.
The two made their way to the closest hotel where they took cover in a stranger’s hotel room for hours.
“These people opened their door to 30 people and literally we were all there, lights were turned out, nobody was, we were all silent, because we didn’t know if there were any more shooters.”
They didn’t leave that room until nearly 6 this morning. Though they’re banged up and bruised, they’re alive.
“I consider all of us lucky,” Burtner says.
Burtner not only commended the strangers who were there to help people, but also the police officers who ran in as concert goers ran away. He and his wife are now on their way home. They’re scheduled to return Monday evening.
Executive Producer Kristin Hosfelt anchors NBC5 News weeknights at 5 and 6. Originally from the Bay Area, Kristin earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism from San Jose State University.
She came to KOBI-TV/NBC5 from Bangor, Maine where she was the evening news anchor. Kristin has won multiple journalism awards including Best Feature Reporting in the State of Maine. In 2017, her investigation on lead pipes in Medford’s water system was named Best News Series by the Oregon Association of Broadcasters.
When Kristin is not sharing the news, she’s traveling, hunting down the best burrito, or buried in a Jodi Picoult novel. She’s also a Green Bay Packers shareholder; if you see her out and about she’d be happy to tell you the story of how a California girl became a cheesehead.
