By JONATHAN WEAVER
The Exponent Telegram
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A mass shooting that killed 59 country music fans on the final day of the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Sunday night has put local residents on edge and made some hesitant to attend such events.
Dave Mick of Reynoldsville was shocked to hear about the mass shooting.
“My gosh — it’s hard to believe what happens today. You never know what’s going to happen,” Mick said. “That’s why I’m glad I live in Clarksburg. (Local police officers) do a good job.”
While walking her children in downtown Clarksburg Monday, Yasmine Barrett recalled attending a hip-hop concert and being searched by police and security before entering the arena. She has also been in several large cities surrounded by hotels, such as Philadelphia, Miami and Las Vegas.
She said the shooting would “not quite” make her second-guess attending another large event or going to a metropolitan area, “but if they continue, yeah — I wouldn’t want to go.”
Michael Felix, a former serviceman with the U.S. Marine Corps who now works for the government in Clarksburg, recalled the frightening scene overseas and recollections of friends that served in combat while describing his thoughts on the Las Vegas shooting.
“It’s really hard to talk about. First off, it’s really sad, and it makes you wonder the way things are going in this country,” Felix said. “With everybody being so angry all the time, you wonder why someone would do that.”
Felix said the shooting earlier this week would not deter him from visiting the most populated city in the state of Nevada, but said the news is resonating with fellow coworkers as well.
Someone Felix works with is reconsidering going to a concert later this month.
“She is worried this is becoming a more common occurrence,” Felix said. “She also wondered, since it’s only been a year since the Orlando shooting, maybe (gunmen) are trying to one-up each other. It’s getting kind of scary.”
Sixth Street Salon owner Neeta Jones and customer Esther Furbee discussed the weekend shooting they heard about on the news Monday morning.
“It’s crazy — very bizarre,” Jones said. “It’s really sad that this happened. Just praying for all the families and people that are involved.”
While she has never had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas, Furbee said this past weekend’s shooting “absolutely” would deter her and makes Jones “a little leery” from attending large concert events. Jones has attended concert events in Pittsburgh before.
“I think it’s awful — what makes people do something like that? What’s in their brains that they want to shoot at people like that?,” Furbee said. “I don’t want to die.”
Ronald Limer, of Clarksburg, was worried a mass shooting could occur again in North Central West Virginia. A pair of newspaper carriers and two others were killed along Locust Street in Clarksburg on July 26, 2013.
“(The Las Vegas shooting is) crazy,” Limer said. “(People) have to watch for the signs of stuff like that — that’s about the only thing they can do. If they see stuff going on, just report it to the police. (A shooting) could happen anywhere — you never know.”
Limer said the situation indeed scares pedestrians and homeowners.
“The way things are today and the way this town is, (another shooting) could happen,” Limer said.
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