Las Vegas shooting: 'I am just numb right now,' says Iowan who recorded deadly gunfire

Aaron Young
The Des Moines Register

Justin Zimmerman hasn't been to sleep yet. His adrenaline has been pumping at an all-time high after being witness to  the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history

Zimmerman, 31, of Dexter told the Register he was with a group of four friends Sunday at the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire from his 32nd-floor hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

An ambulance leaves the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue after a mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas.

"You could hear the gunshots but you never thought it could hit you," Zimmerman said.

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Justin Zimmerman (top left), 31, of Dexter was with a group of friends Sunday during the onslaught at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, where more than 50 people were killed and another 400 were wounded.

Zimmerman said his group was in the middle of the outdoor concert venue, but was exposed to where you could be seen from Mandalay Bay. He said he was about 100 yards from the stage.

"I left my friends to go get more beer, then you heard a distinct 'Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!,'" he explained. "(I) thought it was the sound guy messing up, but you learn quickly it's actual gunfire.

"I just stood there. I didn't know what to do. Then I got on the ground."

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo estimated that 22,000 people were in the crowd when the shooting began around 10 p.m., during country star Jason Aldean's performance.

Zimmerman said after the first wave of bullets, the atmosphere was "dead silent" — the music had already stopped, lights flickered off and everyone glued themselves to the ground ducking for cover. It was very dark and eerie.

Then, Zimmerman said another round of bullets shot off "for another 20 seconds."

"Every time it stopped, people would get up and start running," he said. At this point, you have a mad rush of people running toward you. People hit the ground and jumped over things.

"It was a crowd of running people, you couldn't see anything."

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Zimmerman admitted he was "stuck in between," meaning he didn't know whether to bolt for shelter or help others. He thought to himself: "What am I gonna do?' Where am I gonna go?"

He found shelter at a casino north of Mandalay Bay, which was later on lockdown. Panting, sweating and drenched in beer, Zimmerman showed those inside the video he recorded of what just happened.

"People in there had no idea what's going on," Zimmerman said. 

Although separated from his friends, Zimmerman said the entire group is safe. They all were staying at a friend's home south of Las Vegas.

But the tragic act of mass chaos violence he experienced late Sunday has yet to sink in.

"It's hard to explain," he said of how he's feeling following the onslaught. "I am just numb right now. It won't hit me till I get home and see my family."

This story is developing.

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