ROCK SPRINGS — Rock Springs residents JJ Hadley and his wife Jennie had no idea the harrowing, terrifying experience they would have during a weekend getaway in Las Vegas last weekend.

They had purchased tickets to the Route 91 Music Festival six months ago because they love county music.

Added to that was the wonderful moment Saturday night at the Venetian Hotel when JJ’s sister, Laura Hadley, was proposed to by her now fiance, Dan Davis.
.

Photo: Jason Aldean at the Route 91 Music Festival in Las Vegas, two songs before a gunman opened fire on the crowd.

They were all in the crowd at the concert when a gunman opened fire from a Mandalay Bay hotel room, leaving 59 dead and 500+ injured.

“We were standing on the grass part in front of the stage. When we heard the first round of shots, I grabbed my wife by the hand and we started backing up, wondering where the shots were coming from,” said JJ.
.

“Everyone was saying, ‘They are fireworks, calm down!’ Being from Wyoming and a hunter we knew that wasn’t fireworks! Then the second round of shots started hitting around us and we all took off running away from the stage towards the exit.”

— JJ Hadley
.

JJ said all four of them were together at first, but were separated by the huge amounts of people.

“We ran behind where they were serving food. I grabbed Jennie and told her to crawl under the food vendor’s truck. There were two women huddled next to a semi tire and I told them to get underneath as well,” said JJ.

JJ then went into the vendor’s truck and looked for anything he could find for a weapon because he did not know what was going on, how many shooters there were, or where they were.

“I was prepared to protect my wife and myself the best way I could! I found a butcher knife and a broom. I took the broom off of the handle and used the broom handle!” said JJ. “I started looking for an exit behind the vendor’s truck. The only thing we could do is jump the 8-foot fence.”
.

Outside the Concert Area

“I got the girls out from under the truck and helped all three over the fence! We all took off running towards the Hooters Casino. When we arrived, there were thousands of people in panic. We huddled down in a restaurant we found and got a hold of my sister and Dan. They told us they made it to the Excalibur Casino safe and they were not injured.”

JJ said that next a mad rush of people yelled ‘gunman’ and they took off through the back of the restaurant and out the back door. The door led to a parking garage and they hid in the back of a truck bed that was parked there.

“We still had no idea what was going on,” said JJ. “After awhile, we talked and decided to keep moving. We ran with some people toward a Motel 6. We ran into a dead end from another fence. We had to pull the chain link fence down from the bottom so we could all crawl underneath.
.

We ran toward the motel and a guy, Will, opened his door. It was an angel sent from heaven! He heard all the commotion outside and we asked if we could come in his room. He invited us with no hesitation! All 7 of us!”

— JJ Hadley
.

Safety in a Motel 6

JJ said they closed the door and spent the next six hours in complete darkness.

“Emotional overload! People were crying, hugging, praying. We watched the local news for the rest of the night. At that time, it said 20 people have died and over 100 injured,” said JJ.

Around 3 am that morning, the group saw that the news confirmed that the shooter was deceased. They all thanked Will for his compassion and hospitality.

“We could not thank him enough! After shaking hands and giving hugs to him, Jennie and I talked to police on street in front of hotel. They said we just need to hang out, that we were not going to be allowed back up the our hotel, Luxor, for hours. So we rented a room at the Motel 6 and crashed til it was all clear.”

“Around 7 am that morning, still no sleep, Jennie wearing my flip flops because she lost hers in the running, and myself walking barefoot, we walked all the way back to Luxor.
.

“It looked like a war zone! The police had the entire strip shut down, caution tape shutting down all exits. People were walking around in sheets from sleeping on the hotel floors. Many people were walking around barefooted or with one shoe.”

— JJ Hadley
.

The couple reunited with JJ’s sister and fiance. They learned Laura and Dan’s story after they were separated.

“The bullets were hitting in front of them on the ground and he threw my sister on ground and covered her up with his body. They had to hit the ground several times. We all could hear the bullets ricocheting off of ground,” said JJ.
.

The Kindness of Strangers

What stuck out for Jennie was the kindness of the stranger who invited them into his motel room to hide.
.

“Once in a while in the midst of your worst nightmare, a stranger reaches out to other fellow strangers and offers the one valuable thing a man possesses: compassion.”

— Jennie Hadley
.

“Will, a truck driver, who happened to be in the right place at the right time due to his own misfortune, and without care of race, religion, political stance, or his own personal beliefs, took care of 7 strangers, myself included, offering them a safe place to rest from this nightmare. A light in the darkness. During this tragedy so awful, I witnessed people like Will around me offering compassion to others,” said Jennie.
.

“In our own panicked race to freedom from this nightmare, we encountered other terrified individuals who desperately needed guidance, frozen in their own fear. I witnessed my husband turn into a superhuman ready to fight if he had to…making me run faster than I’ve ever run and guiding, or rather pulling and dragging me, and two other petrified ladies under a food trailer, then over a fence to safety. I love you, JJ Hadley, and today I get to hug my babies! Thank you, Will, wherever you are! My heart is so heavy for those who were injured or passed away. I just cannot wrap my head around this tragedy.”

— Jennie Hadley
.

The group did suffer cuts, scrapes, bumps, and bruises from the running and fence climbing. JJ said he pulled a calf muscle from the running, but no one needed medical attention.

“We are very lucky to be alive and are very grateful,” said JJ. “We all feel so bad for all the people who were not so fortunate. That’s what all of us keep telling each other. And we can’t get the sound of the machine guns out of our heads.”