Jason Aldean’s Emotional Response 24 Hours Following Las Vegas Shooting
Country Music star Jason Aldean, who was performing when a gunman opened fire on concertgoers in [...]
Country Music star Jason Aldean, who was performing when a gunman opened fire on concertgoers in Las Vegas in what was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, took to Instagram 24 hours after the tragedy to share his emotions late Monday night.
"Over the last 24 hrs I have gone through lots of emotions. Scared, Anger, Heartache, Compassion and many others. I truely dont understand why a person would want to take the life of another," he wrote. "Something has changed in this country and in this world lately that is scary to see. This world is becoming the kind of place i am afraid to raise my children in."
His post continued with a plea to others to stand together.
"At the end of the day we arent Democrats or Republicans, Whites or Blacks, Men or Women. We are all humans and we are all Americans and its time to start acting like it and stand together as ONE!" he added. "That is the only way we will ever get this Country to be better than it has ever been, but we have a long way to go and we have to start now. My heart aches for the Victims and their families of this Senseless act. I am so sorry for the hurt and pain everyone is feeling right now and there are no words i can say to to take that pain away. Just know u all are in my heart and my prayers as we all go through this together. Time to come together and stop the hate! #stopthehate #prayforlasvegas."
Video footage from concertgoers shows country singer Jason Aldean performing on stage when a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
Harrowing video of mass shooting during @Jason_Aldean set of #Route91Harvest Festival in #LasVegas. #MandalayBay pic.twitter.com/gaXgDBbZKV
— Evan Schreiber (@SchreiberEvan) October 2, 2017
During Aldean's set on the final night of the three-day festival, attendees heard popping noises they first described as "fireworks" around 10:08 p.m. Video shows that the singer was also confused by the noise but continued to sing for 10 seconds after the automatic shots began. He then stopped singing and ran behind the stage.
Aldean took to social media to share his thoughts following the shooting early Monday morning.
"Tonight has been beyond horrific," he began in an Instagram post. "I still don't know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that me and my crew are safe."
He continued by expressing his condolences to those affected by the tragic event.
"My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," he added.
Aldean added the hashtags "heartbroken" and "stop the hate" to the end of his post.
The country singer's wife, Brittany Aldean, also shared a message of sadness and support following the shooting.
"We are safe... our angels were definitely watching over us tonight. No words for what happened... Just horrific. Praying for everyone," she wrote.