Jason Aldean marked the fifth anniversary of the Route 91 mass shooting in Las Vegas with a special post on Oct. 1.
Videos by American Songwriter
“My Route 91 Family,” wrote Aldean, along with a photo of himself and those who were with him during the closing day of the three-day festival in 2017. “Five years later and it’s still a rough day. Thinking about all you guys today.”
On Oct. 1, 2017, a gunman fired down from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel onto a crowd of thousands of country music fans in attendance at the Route 91 festival, killing 58 people—two more individuals later died from their injuries—and injuring more than 800 concertgoers, while Aldean was on stage.
“That night was probably the worst night of our lives and not a day goes by that we don’t think about the people who lost their lives and the families who have forever been affected by it,” wrote Aldean on the third anniversary of the shooting in 2020. “October 1st will always be a day for us that is extremely hard to relive. To everyone in the Route 91 family, we love [you] guys and we couldn’t have gotten through it without you.”
In 2020, an $800 million settlement was approved, closing a class-action lawsuit filed by more than 4,000 victims of the shooting and their families.
The tragedy, the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in U.S. history, is also the subject of the new Paramount+ documentary, 11 Minutes, which was produced by a survivor of the shooting, Ashley Hoff.
The four-part special explores the tragic event through the perspective of the survivors over news reports and includes an interview with Aldean and others who were in attendance that day, along with videos, eyewitness reports, and other materials.
Photo: Joseph Llanes
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