North Liberty principal recalls fleeing Las Vegas mass shooting

Scott Kibby's knee was bothering him Sunday night.

After two days standing next to the main stage watching live country music acts at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas, the Liberty High principal and his wife, Kari, decided to find bleacher seats for headliner Jason Aldean's concert. The trip was a belated 30th anniversary celebration for the two.

Sitting at the northern end of the parking lot-turned-concert venue along the Strip, about a football field away from the stage, he said, Kibby heard a cracking sound. 

"(Aldean) was in the middle of a song, and all of a sudden I heard about half a dozen pops. I thought it sounded like firecrackers, but they were coming from above us," Kibby said from the Denver airport on his way back to Cedar Rapids on Monday. "The big trigger was when he and the rest of the band sprinted offstage and they turned off the stage lights."

The gunfire was continuous after that, he said, and the scene quickly turned chaotic. Gunfire peppered the venue from a window of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino beginning around 10 p.m., police have said, leaving more than 50 people dead and more than 500 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Las Vegas police have identified a gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, who was found dead on the 32nd floor of the hotel and casino. Police have said they believe he acted alone.

Kibby said after they realized what was happening, Kari grabbed his hand and the couple ran north, bobbing and weaving among food vendors to get away.

He said they ran about a mile away to the MGM Grand hotel and hunkered down behind a marble desk.

"Most of the people there had no idea what was going on, but as all of these people running from the venue started to show up, it was apparent something bad had happened," Kibby said.

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While they were waiting behind the counter, the hotel sounded its sirens and initiated a lockdown. Already shaken and now startled, Kibby said the couple ran to find another hiding spot.

"In that circumstance, when you're already scared, we weren't sure if somebody followed us. We ran to three or four different hiding places," he said.

Hotel staff eventually led those who fled the concert to a banquet hall where the two waited for about three hours. After the lockdown was lifted, Kibby said they headed back toward The Mirage, where they were staying.

But with Las Vegas Boulevard closed, it was difficult to find a cab. Kibby said on their way they noticed an Uber driver with no passengers, flagged him down and rode the rest of the way to the hotel. There, they had to show SWAT officers their room key to get inside.

Up in their room, Kibby and his wife called their son and twin daughters, Kibby's teaching staff and Kari's work staff.

"They knew where we had gone, and we figured if they woke up and saw what had happened they would have wanted to know right away," he said.

After that, the couple couldn't sleep, he said. Their flight was set to leave at 8:15 a.m., but they left for the airport at 5.

"We are so glad to be headed back to Iowa," he said as they waited for their second flight.

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Kibby said the bravery of concert security and the first responders will stick with him for some time.

"We were all running like crazy for our lives to get away from the scene," he said of the more than 20,000 people who attended the concert, "and police and security are running toward what was happening. It was incredible bravery."

Reach Andy Davis at 319-887-5404 or at aldavis@press-citizen.com, and follow him on Twitter as @BylineAndyDavis.