Dozens of people made their way to the Las Vegas welcome sign to remember those killed when a gunman opened fire a year ago today on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip.
In the days after the shooting, which left 58 dead and more than 800 injured, the sign turned into a makeshift memorial for the victims. People left thousands of items of remembrance — signs, candles, stuffed animals, jewelry and 58 white wooden crosses.
Some 30 family members of Brian Fraser turned out today to remember the man who lost his life when the gunman opened fire for still-unknown reasons from a hotel tower across the street.
“He was the guy in the family that you could go to for advice at any time, no matter what it was, and he could help,” said his brother-in-law Salvador Gonzalez. “He was very knowledgeable, so if he didn’t know it, you were in trouble.”
Gonzalez who attended the Route 91 Harvest festival with Fraser and their wives, said they had just gotten drinks that night when Fraser split off from the group. He moved closer to the stage to get a better view of country star Jason Aldean, one of his favorite artists.
Fraser was shot moments later.
Most of the family had never visited to the site of the mass shooting, but Gonzalez and the rest of Fraser’s family did so today, calling it a moment of closure in their yearlong recovery.
They gathered near an entrance gate to the site off Giles Street, where many concertgoers fled from the gunfire. Instead of running for cover, they stood in place, together.
Family members said they were happy to be back in Las Vegas to celebrate Fraser’s life.
“There’s been the ups and downs, but we’ve been lucky because we’re a tight-knit family...We roll deep,” Gonzalez said. “For all of us, it’s been a healing process coming out here.”