Three women from Alberta and a B.C. man are among the 59 people killed in a mass shooting in Las Vegas, CTV News has confirmed. At least seven other Canadians were wounded.
Mechanic Jordan McIldoon of Maple Ridge, B.C. would have celebrated his 24th birthday on Friday. Now, his parents have headed to Nevada to retrieve his body.
McIldoon’s grandmother, Ann Norman, told CTV Vancouver that her grandson was an only child with a big heart who worked hard, loved his family and looked after his girlfriend.
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Jordan McIldoon, left to right, Jessica Klymchuk and Calla Medig, Canadians killed in the Las Vegas attack, are shown in this composite image of photos from Facebook.
Jan Lambourne and Jody Ansell (Facebook)
Las Vegas resident Heather Gooze said in a Facebook post that McIldoon died in her arms. She described the tragic scene in an emotional interview with CNN on Tuesday.
“I had my hand over his hand, and I could kind of feel his fingers wrapped around my hand,” Gooze said. “I felt like a squeeze on my fingers, and then I just felt the fingers go loose.”
She said the concert venue was not unlike a warzone once the gunfire started, with people using ladders and other objects as makeshift stretchers to evacuate the wounded. Another man nearby, she recalled, was kneeling beside his dead wife, unwilling to leave for safer ground.
Gooze said she eventually managed to unlock McIldoon’s iPhone after he died by asking Siri to call his mother.
“We called his mom. I said, ‘I promise you, I swear to you, that I will not leave him. I will stay with him until this is over,’” she said. “I just didn’t want him to be a John Doe.”
B.C. Premier John Horgan called the violence “horrifying” and “incomprehensible,” adding that his “thoughts are with the family.”
Jessica Klymchuk of Valleyview, Alta., was also killed in Sunday’s attack.
The Holy Family Catholic Regional Division issued a statement Monday expressing “shock and sadness” at Klymchuk’s death. The school division said Klymchuk worked as an educational assistant, librarian and bus driver for St. Stephen School in Valleyview, Alta.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family,” the school division said.
CTV News has learned that another Alberta woman, 28-year-old Calla Medig of Jasper, was also killed. The Jasper Royal Canadian Legion Branch 31 said in a Facebook post, that “a young beautiful lady was taken from us.” The flag at legion branch has been lowered in her memory.
Tara Roe, 34, of Okotoks, Alta. was confirmed dead by her aunt, Val Rodgers. Roe’s parents were looking after her two boys while she and her husband were visiting Las Vegas with another couple.
A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the family has brought in nearly $8,500 in donations, surpassing its goal of $2,500 in about two hours.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said in a tweet on Monday that Albertans’ “hearts go out to the loved ones of the Albertan who was killed in the Las Vegas attack.”
Several Canadians injured or missing
Two friends from Manitoba, meanwhile, were among more than 500 people wounded in the gunfire at the concert in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Jan Lambourne of Teulon, Man., was hit in the abdomen and underwent surgery. Her friend Jody Ansell of Stonewall, Man., was sent to hospital with a gunshot wound to the arm.
Lambourne’s husband Joseph Lambourne told CTV Winnipeg that he got a frightening call from his sister-in-law around midnight informing him that his wife had been shot.
After that, he received a text message from Jan that said: “I love you. I've been shot. I love you so much.”
“It scared the hell out of me,” he said.
Lambourne said his wife was originally listed in critical condition, but was later upgraded to stable condition.
He said he and his son had purchased plane tickets and were headed to Nevada to be with Jan.
Also reported injured in the attack was Ryan Sarrazin, a man originally from Saskatchewan, but living in Alberta.
Tara Killen, from Airdrie, Alberta, was shot twice and according to her husband, she is "recovering in a Las Vegas hospitalfrom injuries sustained during the concert tragedy."
Among those reported missing is at least one Canadian: Tara Roe, 34, of Okotoks, Alta.
Sheldon Mack of Victoria, B.C., meanwhile, was hit by multiple bullets and remains in an intensive care unit after surgery for a ruptured colon.
Mack told CTV Vancouver Island that he was standing in front of the middle of the stage with friends when he thought he heard fireworks. After that, he was shot in the gut, hip and forearm.
“I just panicked and looked for anybody who could help me and I had my friend use his belt as like a tourniquet and cut off the blood,” he said. “It all happened crazy fast. It seemed not real.”
Mack tweeted earlier Monday afternoon that there is “so much evil in this world” and thanked God “for watching over me now.”
His father Hudson Mack, a well-known B.C. broadcaster, told CTV News earlier in the day that his son had been in Las Vegas celebrating his 21st birthday.
Hudson Mack posted an update on Facebook Monday afternoon that said he and other family members had arrived in Las Vegas and had visited Sheldon.
“We were relieved to see this sight of him when we walked into the ICU, and when we saw his tweets after we landed,” he wrote.
“He helped others last night while the shooting was happening,” he went on. “His friends Liam and Cole helped him and others, and someone saved his life, dragging him to safety and getting him to an ambulance,” he went on. “Whoever you are, thank you.”
Steve Arruda of Calgary, Alta., took a gunshot wound to the leg.
A local hockey league posted on Facebook that they wish Arruda a quick recovery.
Matt and Amanda Austin told CTV Edmonton that they ran for their lives when they heard the shots.
“I said, ‘We got to go.’ We got to get out of there,” Matt said from a terminal at Edmonton International Airport.
He was shot in the back of his right arm as the couple became tangled in the crowd near the venue’s exit. A security guard on the street rushed the pair to the hospital.
“I just felt like somebody Tasered me in the back of the arm and shot me through my bicep,” Matt said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his condolences to victims in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“The Prime Minister reaffirmed to President Trump that Canada stands with the United States following this senseless and cowardly act of violence,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
“The Prime Minister also offered any assistance that Canada can provide in response to this tragedy,” the statement continued.
Trudeau said, in an earlier statement, that government officials are following up with Canadians who have been impacted.
“We stand with the United States, and share their pain and horror at such a senseless and cowardly act of violence,” he wrote. “Las Vegas has long been celebrated by people from around the globe, including many Canadians. We grieve with this city and the United States. Such acts only strengthen our resolve to stand together, united.”
Trudeau encouraged friends and relatives of Canadian citizens known to be in the area to contact the Global Affairs Emergency Watch and Response Centre at 1-800-387-3124 or email sos@international.gc.ca.
The federal government’s travel and tourism information branch tweeted information about resources, including a phone number for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for individuals impacted by the shooting (1-866-535-5654), directions to a family reunification centre, and a warning about diverted flights at McCarran International Airport.