Former Milwaukee resident now living in Vegas recalls the panic after the shooting

Quetin Lathan moved to Vegas with his girlfriend Tammy Wolfe just two months ago.

Sunday night they went to the show “Imaginarium” inside the Tropicana hotel. It was right around 9pm that they started making their way to their car.

It was parked in the same lot as most of the guests who were at the 3 day Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival.

"The festival was only 2 minutes away from the parking lot as we can hear the performers and see the large video screen," Lathan recalls. "We decided to walked around for a while. A little after 10pm, we saw people running. People were running into the Tropicana Hotel and Hooters. We walked to the Hooters hotel and was told there was an active shooter."

Minutes later police came from everywhere.

"As we stood outside, we saw police knocking on doors at the Motel 6 next door to Hooters asking if people were okay. But, I think they were searching for the shooters because they thought there was more than one."

Lathan said officers told everyone they had to get inside the hotel because the strip was closed and the hotels along the strip were on locked down.

As Lathan and Wolfe waited inside of Hooters people were running in with no shoes on, no shirts.

"Girls were saying they left their purses, keys and other items because they had to."

The Police, Fire, and Ambulance had set up a command post right in front of Hooters and was treating several people.

"I saw one person was shot in the shoulder and others had minor injuries."

Lathan believes it was around 11pm when the swat team came inside Hooters hotel and we were told them had to check every room.

"We walked towards the parking lot but were told we could not leave in our car because the area was considered a crime scene. The police had set up road blocks on the street and looked inside the cars for I assume to be the shooter. Hooters staff were handing out water, bags of chips, and towels to people."

Lathan says folks resorted to laying on the hotel gaming floors next to the slot machines and card tables.

"A lot of people were crying, mostly younger girls. As we walked back outside around midnight, police were everywhere walking around with AK47 weapons. People were not allowed to go to nearby hotels such as MGM which was across the street."

Around 4am, the couple was allowed to walk to their car.

"We live 10 minutess from the strip. I can see the Mandalay Bay Hotel from my living room window!"

It took 30 minutes to get to their apartment because most of the streets were blocked off.

"We always felt safe going out day and night. It’s very common for the strip to be packed until 4am. We will still continue to enjoy the nightlife that Vegas offers us."

When asked if he thinks event organizers should re-think public venues, Lathan says if we do that then "they" win.