Detroiters in Las Vegas panic as gunshots rain down

Image 1 of 3

A gunman perched on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas casino took 58 innocent lives and injured more than 500 others. Detroiters were among the crowd of 22,000 and started returning to DTW Monday.

The massacre in Las Vegas was astonishing as the crowd ran for cover from a man who was determined to unleash his fury on the innocent crowd.

"Just heard quick, repetitive firing - just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. At first it sounded like firecrackers, but it just didn't stop. It just kept going and going and going," Dan Lock said.

The Commerce Township resident was in Vegas with his girlfriend, Lorrie, for the Route 91 Harvest Festival. They were close to the stage where Jason Aldean was singing. Then waves of panic ran through the crowd.

"There was just  a lot of chaos, a lot of panic. Everybody knew that they wanted to get out of that concert venue as quickly as possible," he said.

Elsewhere on the strip, more Metro Detroiters who were vacationing heard the commotion, saw people running, and ran for cover as well...

"Hundreds of people running - every which direction," Jamie Garrett said. "All of a sudden people started running again - screaming, yelling, just herds of people just sprinting everywhere."

Garrett was in Las Vegas with his dad. He wasn't alone. Everybody in Las Vegas had a special occasion whether it was an engagement, a wedding, or a birthday.

"Someone said shooter on the strip or whatever everyone kind of just took cover. I'm still pretty shaken actually," Garrett said.

Tyrone Prentiss was in Vegas for a friend's birthday and wedding.

"People were crying, coming into the hotels, looking for loved ones," he said.

He was at Mandalay Bay the night before for a Michael Jackson tribute show. Now he knows the shooter had already been there for days, stockpiling his weapons.

"The way he methodically planned this, it was strategic. He wasn't that crazy, to be able to get that many guns up to the 32nd floor," Prentiss said.

It is so unsettling and so senseless, the Metro Detroiters we talked to said they're praying for the victims and feeling blessed to be back home, safely.

Secure ways you can help Las Vegas attack victims