Arizona DPS trooper details efforts to save victims after Las Vegas shooting
Oct 6, 2017, 5:35 AM | Updated: 11:47 am
PHOENIX — An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper detailed his involvement in aiding victims after a gunman began raining bullets on a crowd at a country music festival, killing at least 59 people and injuring 489 more.
Sgt. Alan Haywood, a trooper who has been with the department for 17 years, was in Las Vegas for an Honor Guard Detail when Stephen Paddock opened fire on 22,000 concertgoers from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.
Haywood said he was driving on the Interstate 15 at Sunset Road, about two miles from the site of the shooting, when traffic suddenly came to a halt.
Haywood, who was in uniform, then began assisting Nevada Highway Patrol troopers with traffic control, which allowed emergency personnel to get through traffic and arrive on scene in a timely manner.
Haywood said he moved to the scene of the shooting when reports of multiple shooters — which were later found to be false — came through.
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While he was on his way to the scene, Haywood said he came across a pickup truck full of victims — four people, two injured — driving on the highway. So the trooper then flagged down an ambulance and paramedics began treating the patients.
Haywood said he then transported the truck full of victims to a local hospital and helped medical staff off-load them. One of the victims eventually died of their injuries.
Shortly after, Haywood said he heard that two state Department of Public Safety employees were injured due to shrapnel wounds and tracked them down at local hospitals.
Haywood then notified their families and acted as a liaison between Nevada authorities and the department. All other Department of Public Safety employees were accounted for.
In a statement, Col. Frank Milstead said Haywood’s actions showed “troopers are ready to act at any time and any place. They are trained this way and are dedicated to protecting human life. Many true heroes showed their faces on the night of October 1st, and they won’t be forgotten.”
