NORTHUMBERLAND – A Northumberland couple celebrating a wedding anniversary and a birthday in Las Vegas say it suddenly turned terrifying. Sheila and Tom Packer are back home safe and sound after Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas. There were about a mile away at the time.
During that evening, the Packers were touring casinos six or seven buildings up from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
That’s when Sheila Packer says everything turned chaotic, “There was a mob of people running at us screaming, ‘There’s a shooter! Run! Get away!’ My husband and I just turned around and started running and ended up ducking into a restaurant. So we ended up in the supply closet for a hour or hour and a half.”
Sheila Packer also said she and her husband first heard reports of multiple shooters involved. During the frantic time, Sheila Packer said many things ran through her and her husband’s mind, “Just the thought of possibly never seeing our kids again, and just what we were going to do. We were stuck in a supply closet which was probably about a six-by-11 room with racks and shelves, and thinking what do we do if they find us in here?”
The Packers were able to return to their hotel around 4:30 a.m. Monday morning. Despite what happened, Tom Packer said it didn’t stop the couple from finishing their vacation, nor will it affect future vacations, “We were all upset, but you can’t live in fear. It’s like…you have to be careful I guess. There’s not much you can do about it, but you can’t let it stop from living your life. But we were thinking about coming home.”
The couple returned home Wednesday. (Matt Catrillo)
