If you’re not personally involved, it’s easy when another mass shooting like the one in Las Vegas occurs to get immediately tangled in justifiable anger over our nation’s backward gun politics.
And although the NRA’s and the Trump regime’s argument that now is not the time to talk about reform is a pile of rubbish, we should take more than a silent minute or two to honor the grief of family and friends caused by these latest murders and maimings. For them, that grief will never, ever end.
While the name of the killer will appear in headlines now and in follow-up stories for years, the names of the victims will soon be forgotten by all but those who loved them.
We should, like their families, never forget them once their names are known.
"The identification process of all of the injured and the deceased will take time, so authorities are asking the public for patience," the police department said in a press release this morning. Police advise calling 1-866-535-5654 1-800-536-9488 if you're looking for missing family members or friends.
Victims who have been publicly identified:
- Sonny Melton, 29
- Jordan McIldoon, 23
- Quinton Robbins, 20
- Charleston Hartfield, 34
- Jessica Klymchuk
- Lisa Romero
- Chris Roybal
- Adrian Murfitt. 35
- Sandy Casey
- Rachael Parker
- Angie Gomez
- Susan Smith, 53
- Bailey Schweitzer, 20
- Melissa Ramirez, 28
- Carrie Barnette
- Rhonda LaRocque, 42
- Denise Burditis, 50
- Hannah Ahlers, 35
- Jenny Parks
- Jennifer Topaz Irvine
- Dana Gardner
- Thomas Day, Jr., 54
- John Phippen, 56
- Neysa Tonks
- Kurt von Tillow, 55
- Erick Silva, 22
The Guardian reports:
A registered nurse from Tennessee and a mechanic’s apprentice from Maple Ridge, British Columbia, were among the first identified victims of Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Sonny Melton, 29, who lived in Big Sandy, Tennessee, and worked at a nearby hospital, was the first victim publicly identified. Family members confirmed to news station WSMV that he was killed in the gunfire.
His wife, Heather Melton, told WZTV that her husband shielded her from bullets on the ground when the shooting began. “He saved my life and lost his,” she said