A somber sunrise remembrance ceremony started Monday in Las Vegas with survivors , families of victims, first-responders and elected officials remembering the lives lost when one year ago when a gunman opened fire on a crowd attending an outdoor country music concert in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Several hundred people gathered at an outdoor amphitheater during an event that began with a prayer and words from Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval. “Today we remember the unforgettable. Today, we comfort the inconsolable,” Sandoval said. “Today, we are reminded of the pain that never really goes away.” Among the attendees who are offering prayers, songs and speeches at the event was Mynda Smith. She remembered her sister, Nyesa Davis Tonks, who pronounced her name “Neesha” and was a 46-year-old single mother originally from the Salt Lake City area raising three boys in Las Vegas. Smith said her sister she was energetic, adventurous, a fan of all kinds of music. “I want to bring the message about living life to the fullest,” Smith said. “About how grateful we are for our community, the love and support that we got, and being ‘Vegas Strong.'”
The chief executive of MGM Resorts International is calling last year’s mass shooting in Las Vegas “an unforgettable act of terror.” Company chairman and CEO Jim Murren said in a statement Monday that the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting that killed 58 people and injured more than 850 was a “senseless act of evil.” MGM owns the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the gunman was when he opened fire into an outdoor concert crowd below on the Las Vegas Strip. Police and the FBI have not called the shooting a terrorist act or said the Mandalay Bay gunman was linked to a conspiracy. They say he acted alone. How the event is characterized is important for MGM Resorts because it wants to invoke a federal anti-terrorism law enacted after Sept. 11, 2001, in defense of negligence lawsuits alleging that the casino giant could have prevented the shooting. In his statement, Murren says that through unity and determination the Oct. 1 anniversary can become a day of healing and hope.
