South Florida residents who were in Las Vegas when the mass shooting occurred are returning home and sharing their stories of survival.
Martha Lewk took refuge in the kitchen of a restaurant where she was eating.
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“And then they took us out by the pool and we’re standing by the pool, and we could hear the shots and everybody starting screaming. It was like a stampede,” the Miami woman said at baggage claim 24 inside the Miami airport.
Then more chaos occurred Sunday night.
“We got over to the Monte Carlo and evidently, another dish broke. It was another stampede,” she said.
Scott and Sandi Poisson were on lockdown in Caesars Palace until 1:30 a.m. Monday. They remember Vegas like they had never seen before.
“It was like a ghost town, the Strip. There were no cars or anything. There were a lot of SWAT guys with serious weapons,” the Weston, Fla., couple said.
WPTV spoke to a West Palm Beach man who said he was about to go into the Jason Aldean concert when he heard the gunfire.
The local man was still too shaken to talk on camera Monday night.
All of the South Florida residents that were back home were tired, surprised and melancholy.
“I’m thankful to be home, really,” said Lewk.
“Things are happening everyday in the world. Our kids were in Barcelona this summer before things happened there. It’s very strange to be living this way,” Sandi Poisson said.
As of Monday night, 59 people died and more than 500 were injured. Authorities say 64-year-old Stephen Paddock shot from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, then shot himself before a SWAT team arrived.