Mass shootings have been on the rise in the United States since the early 2000s, but until the heartbreak of the 1 October 2017 Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, the citizens of Las Vegas had never experienced the violence and tragedy of this now all-too-frequent occurrence. That day, fifty-eight people were shot to death on site, while another two victims later died of their injuries. The 1 October incident physically wounded nearly 900 concert-goers, but psychologically impacted countless untold victims.

As individual and institutional response to urgent requests for help came in both during and after the 1 October catastrophe, those who call Las Vegas home struggled to cope with pain and grief. Now, editor Roberta Sabbath draws together a collection of personal essays, oral histories, interviews, scholarly writings, and commentaries to remember those whose lives were lost, and to honor survivors and their loved ones. Written five years after the tragedy, each contribution offers a unique story of healing, demonstrating the wide-ranging experiences and repercussions of the event. The essays in this collection represent a broad diversity of voices from political leaders, health professionals, first responders, community members, and incident survivors. This work is dedicated to those who lost their lives on 1 October 2017, to survivors and their loved ones, and to the caregivers—both individual and institutional—all of whom continue to keep Vegas Strong.

Preface
Introduction

Part One. Site
Chapter 1. The Night That Forever Changed My Life-A Survivor's Story | Ashley Primack
Chapter 2. The Night the Music Stopped-Snapshots from Oral Histories | Barbara Tabach
Chapter 3. This Was Not in the Manual-UNLV Residence Hall Becomes Safe Haven | Alicia (AC) Monrroy
Chapter 4. Transforming Platforms-Greek Chorus and Social Media | Roberta Sabbath
Chapter 5. Shock, Heartbreak, and Remembrance-University Medical Center, FEMA, and the Healing Garden | Carolyn Goodman

Part Two. Process
Chapter 6. Searching for Light-A Diary of the First Twenty-two Hours | Mynda Smith
Chapter 7. Las Vegas Healing Strategies-Mementos, Family, and Acts of Love and Kindness |Claytee D. White
Chapter 8. Therapeutic Innovations, Outreach, and Lessons Learned-A Practical Guide for Community Response | Terri Keener
Chapter 9. "I like safe noise."-Working with Survivors, Vegas Strong Resiliency Center | Laurie Lytel
Chapter 10. Dealing with Death-New Models for Grieving Are Emerging | Daniel Bubb
Chapter 11. "O word, thou word, that I lack"-The Place of Poetic Mysticism in the Expression of Grief, Or How Language Succeeds in Failing Us | Eryn Green

Part Three. Stronger Together
Chapter 12. 1 October Memorial Committee-Five Years After-Reflections from Within | Tennille Pereira
Chapter 13. The Las Vegas Community Healing Garden-Placemaking and the Death of "Sin City" | Stefani Evans
Chapter 14. Preserving Community Grief-The Remembering 1 October Collection at the Clark County Museum | Cynthia Sanford
Chapter 15. A Moment of Silence Is No Longer Enough-Working to Address the Plague of Gun Violence | Dina Titus
Chapter 16. Documenting the Reflecting on 1 October-A Selected Bibliography of Collections and Scholarship | Priscilla Finley and Su Kim Chung

Contributors
Index