Josh Abbott and his fiancee are okay and back at their hotel together after enduring a terribly frightening ordeal on Sunday night (Oct. 1) during the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, when a gunman opened fire on the crowd.
The Josh Abbott Band were among the acts on the bill for the third day of the festival, which takes place each October in Las Vegas. They were part of a lineup that included Jake Owen, Big & Rich, Kane Brown, Tyler Reeve and Dee Jay Silver, but the night devolved into terror and chaos when gunshots rang out during Jason Aldean‘s headlining set, forcing him to leave the stage. Abbott later tweeted that he and the band members were okay, but had been evacuated from the Mandalay Bay hotel where the shots originated, while his fiancee, Taylor, remained inside.
Right before 11:30AM on Monday morning (Oct. 2), the singer posted another update, tweeting, “I got back to Taylor & our room in Mandalay about 30 minutes ago. The rest of the band & crew are home now. Was a long awful night.”
Checking in With All Route 91 Harvest Fest Sunday Performers
Abbott and Taylor recently welcomed a daughter, who took part in Abbott’s sweet proposal. And while the couple are safe, many others were not so lucky. 64-year-old shooter Stephen Paddock killed at least 58 people and wounded 500 more in his 4-5 minute rampage in Vegas before taking his own life. No motive has been established for the shooting, which is the deadliest in U.S. history.
Owen performed right before Aldean, and he recounted the shooting from side stage, while Chris Young was forced to take shelter in a trailer while the shooting was going on.
One of Abbott’s bandmates, JAB guitarist Caleb Keeter, turned to social media to admit that Sunday night’s events had changed his long-held views on gun control and the Second Amendment. The guitarist says the guns JAB legally carry on their bus were “useless” on Sunday night. “We couldn’t touch them for fear police might think that we were part of the massacre and shoot us,” he writes, adding, “We need gun control RIGHT. NOW.”
Country Singers React to Mass Shooting at Route 91 Harvest Festival
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TasteofCountry.com
http://tasteofcountry.com/josh-abbott-update-route-91-harvest-festival-shootings/
