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At least one Spartan injured in Las Vegas shooting, alumni group claims

October 2, 2017
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1 in Las Vegas.  A shooter opened fire from within Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. David Becker | Getty Images
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1 in Las Vegas. A shooter opened fire from within Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. David Becker | Getty Images —

At least one Spartan alumna was injured in the mass shooting that took place last night in Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Spartans Facebook page. A post made around 10 a.m. Monday morning claims the alumna, identified only as "Ashley F." is in stable condition.



Las Vegas Spartans board member Megan Yaroch said she does not know of any other alumni hurt in the shooting. At least 58 people were killed and at least 515 were hurt as of 1 p.m. Monday.

“We’ve been getting a lot of confirmations, which is great, that everybody is okay,” Yaroch said.

“We know some friends there were down there that we just haven’t heard from, but what we also recommend is if you can go onto your Facebook and mark “safe,’ people are kind of cross checking that as well to make sure all their friends and family are okay.”

MSU Alumni Association Executive Director Scott Westerman said it’s likely some number of alumni were at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, where the shooting took place.

“We have over 1,700 alumni in Las Vegas, and the concert last night was one that over the years has been very popular with our alumni, so we know that there were a good deal of Spartans there on the scene,” Westerman said. “Beyond that, it’s still early enough that we don’t know too many details about injuries.”



“It is a tragic situation,” Westerman said. “Our global Spartan family is reaching out to share our love and support for our Las Vegas Spartans at this time.”

Yaroch said blood donations are currently needed.

“From what I’ve been hearing so far, they’ve actually had a lot of people at the donation centers,” Yaroch said.

“There’s long lines… Some places have said appointments have been booked from throughout the full week.”

For those not in the area who are looking to help, first responder and MSU alumnus Daniel Patterson suggested donating to a GoFundMe page set up by Clark County Commission Chair Steve Sisolak. The page has raised $744,679 as of 2:30 p.m. Monday.

A U.S. Department of the Interior first responder of five years,  Patterson said he immediately set out to help once he heard the news. Acting in the capacity of a public information officer, Patterson has been responding to public inquiries and directing people towards information about their loved ones or other concerns.

“The ER hospitals and people there, they’re working to triage and take care of patients as needed,” Patterson said. “The confirmed death toll that we have right now is 58 people confirmed dead, that number might increase.”

Yaroch encouraged any affected alumni, whether local or visiting, to reach out via Facebook or Twitter for help.

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“We have a lot of local Spartans that are willing to help out, open up their homes, however we can,” Yaroch said.

In a press release Monday, Governor Rick Snyder called for Michigan to lower flags to half-mast until Friday evening to honor victims of the shooting.

“Michigan joins the rest of the nation as we mourn the dozens of lives lost in Las Vegas,” Snyder said in the release. 

“I also ask that we come together as Michiganders to pray for the hundreds of people injured and those who are fighting for their lives.”

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who’s been affected by this tragedy,” MSU spokesperson Jason Cody said.

Stay with The State News as more information becomes available. This story was last updated at 2:33 p.m.

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