Country star John Rich, of Big and Rich, said he had just played at the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest music festival shortly before the Jason Aldean’s set.
He can’t believe he was on stage a few acts before Stephen Paddock shot and killed more than 50 innocent people and wounded over 500 during the show.
Rich was interrupted by the horrible tragedy while he was at a local bar he owns nearby.
John Rich was playing in the bar when the shooting started. Thankfully, an off-duty Minneapolis police officer just happened to be at the right place at the right time.
According to IJR:
Country music star John Rich, one half of the popular duo Big & Rich, was at the Redneck Riviera bar in Las Vegas when a gunman unleashed a hail of gunfire on a country music festival on the Strip.
Rich revealed on Monday there was an off-duty Minneapolis police officer in the bar at the time.
He recalled the amazing thing that happened in an interview with Fox News:
“I had an off-duty police officer, it was a Minneapolis police officer, off-duty, was in my bar hanging out. He came up to me and showed me his badge, and he says… ‘I’m [a police] officer and I’m not armed for the first time ever. I can’t believe it. Are you armed?’ I said yes I am armed. I had my concealed carry. He asked, ‘can I have your firearm so I can hold point on this door?’ So I handed over my firearm to him, everybody got behind him and for two hours he held point on that door without flinching.”
After the horrifying shooting, Rich went searching for the off-duty cop.
Will the off duty officer that used my side arm to protect entrance @RNRBarVegas last night pls contact me? Pls retweet and pass the word.
— John Rich (@johnrich) October 2, 2017
And eventually, he found him.
I found him! He wants to remain anonymous, so I’ll respect that wish. He’s a Minneapolis officer and we had great team work. Thank you sir. https://t.co/vYSXHfM5VT
— John Rich (@johnrich) October 3, 2017
While the off-duty officer was able to keep bar patrons safe, the gunman who opened fire on concertgoers slaughtered at least 59 people and injured over 500 more in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Police had not identified a motive in the shooting as of Monday night.
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