For a year after the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas, Jason Zabala and some 70 other concert survivors would meet up at In Cahoots in Mission Valley every Monday.
The bar offered them a safe place to share their feelings and support each other, but it has since closed and many have moved on.
To mark the second anniversary of the massacre, some among the Monday meetup group came back to In Cahoots for a candlelight vigil outside the bar’s closed doors.
Zabala said he’s able sees his way past the horrible memories with moments like these that he shares with friends and fellow survivors.
"There's no timeline on healing. I think that is the greatest thing I learned,” Zabala said.
Two years ago, Zabala was standing in front of the concert crowd with his friends when he heard gunfire. Only after seeing the lights go out and performer Jason Aldean flee the stage did he realize those bullets were aimed at him and thousands of other panicked concert-goers.
"How does one person only responsible for that much damage in such a short period of time?” Zabala asked."
Local
Zabala still struggles to find the words to describe his attempt to outrun the spraying bullets, past the dead and wounded, not knowing where it's safe to go.
"None of us want to be in this fraternity. We survived a mass shooting together but unfortunately that is the reality that we live in," Zabala said.
In surviving, Zabala said his life has changed forever. In large crowds and at public events, he first looks for the closest exits.
"Definitely more tentative about your surroundings. You are more aware of things around you and what's happening,” Zabala said.
He may have escaped with his life, but says the gunman stole something just as important -- a sense of security.
"It's something that will continue to be a part of my life. Unfortunately, it will be for the rest of my life," he said.
Two years later, investigators still can’t explain the motive behind the mass shooting. Like other survivors, Zabala wants more questions answered.
