Hong Kong Singer Hid Under Casino Gambling Table During Las Vegas Massacre

October 3, 2017

With a death toll of at least 59 and over 500 injured, Sunday night’s mass shooting in Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas is considered one of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

During the tragic incident, Hong Kong singer Leo Ku Kui-Kei and his wife were at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas when they heard gunshots about 1.6 miles away.

In an interview with a Hong Kong radio programme (via the South China Morning Post), Ku shared the terrifying experience as they hid, along with their friends, under a gambling table with the rest of the crowd panicking and scrambling to find a safe cover for themselves.

Ku and his wife arrived in Nevada the day before following a successful concert in San Francisco for “a few days off”.

Perched on the 32nd floor of the Las Vegas Strip casino, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock sprayed a shower of bullets down on an outdoor country music festival attended by 22,000 people.

“I was holding my wife in my arms under the table, having no idea [where exactly was the shooting occurring], what I could do, and what would happen next,” Ku, who was speaking from Las Vegas, was quoted as saying.

He said that he was caught in a stupor while the area became chaotic, with people around him screaming and running in all directions. Regaining his composure, he and his group ran towards the back of the building to seek shelter near the stairway after learning that the elevators had been halted.

They then met a South Korean family which moved with them to a higher floor of the hotel. He further narrated that they were only able to stay in the hallway as none of them had a room at the hotel. A lockdown on all Las Vegas hotels was enforced until the morning.

Ku said he appreciated the help from the South Koreans and others in the hotel who provided some items that helped them get through the night as they waited for updates from authorities.

“Some foreigners also came out of their rooms to offer help, lending us batteries and blankets in case we had to stay overnight in the corridor,” he said.

He also posted a message on Facebook expressing his thanks to the hotel patrons and staff who provided them some water and towels after the attack.

The police, who took almost seven hours to find for the suspect, made an announcement at 5:33 a.m. on Monday that Stephen Paddock had been found dead in his room at the Mandalay Bay hotel.

After the lockdown was lifted, the Kus and their friends were able to return to their rooms at a hotel close to the Bellagio.

“I was still very nervous when I had to go out and walk back to our hotel,” Ku said, noting that he was even unable to sleep in his own room after the incident.

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