美国国家公共电台 NPR One Year After The Las Vegas Shooting, 2 Survivors Remember

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

In about a week, the city here will mark a grim anniversary. It was a year ago in October where the single deadliest mass shooting in modern American history took place. A man opened fire on a country music festival. He killed 58 people, injured hundreds more and left this city reeling. We're joined now by national correspondent Leila Fadel to talk about what's changed in the city since then. She's based in Las Vegas and was part of the NPR team that covered the shooting. Hi, Leila.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE¹: Hi.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So tell us about that night.

FADEL: Well, it was surreal because this city that's known for over-the-top, crazy fun was scarred, scared and mourning. But really, Las Vegas a year on is back to business as usual, and it's a city that wanted to recover and wanted to recover quickly because...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And it needs to, right? Tourists come here.

FADEL: Exactly. That's the life's blood of this city. They needed people to come back and tell them, it's OK. Everything's fine. And there are remembrances, a memorial garden. But there's also erasing² of it. For example, the Mandalay Bay - the 32nd floor, where that shooter shot from - that doesn't exist anymore. They've renumbered the floors.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Oh. And you revisited one of the survivors³ you met just a few days after the shooting to see how he was doing. Tell us about him.

FADEL: When I first met Nick Campbell, he was in a hospital bed - a 16-year-old that had jumped on top of his girlfriend to try to protect her, and he got shot, his lung pierced, his ribs⁴ crushed. And he tried to climb over a fence after helping⁵ her get out. And he couldn't get out on his own. And so this is him speaking to me at that time just days after the shooting.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NICK CAMPBELL: So I hid under someone that was, like, dead 'cause the shooter's not going to shoot where there's already someone dead.

FADEL: Today, Campbell is 17. He played basketball at school last year. He ran track and was a lifeguard over the summer. And I met up with him at a park near his home in Henderson, Nev.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Nick. Nick.

CAMPBELL: What?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It's time to play some activities.

FADEL: Watching him now laughing and hanging with friends, you would never know what he'd been through.

CAMPBELL: It's been a long, long road mentally, physically⁶. Physically, I'm back - I mean, not back to normal. There's still hinderances here and there with, like, my lungs and my ribs and stuff like that.

FADEL: Campbell says the physical recovery was easier than the mental.

CAMPBELL: I mean, 'cause we live here, it's everywhere. So you can't really - you kind of have to - like, can't really run from it. You kind of have to get through it. So that was the hard part, too.

FADEL: Slowly, he has tried to heal. He returned to the open-air venue⁷ of the festival a week after the shooting.

CAMPBELL: I went back to there and just, like, sat there for a little bit. And I just cried. Like, I mean, that helped a lot. And then another time, I went with Liv, my girlfriend. And we cut off our bracelets⁸ and then threw them over the wall or whatever.

FADEL: And when he says bracelets, he means the bands they wore at the festival that night to gain entry. There are triggers, of course - war movies, loud noises and the most difficult trigger, his girlfriend. The pair were reminders⁹ to each other of what happened that day because they were together.

CAMPBELL: We just kind of decided¹⁰, let's just take a break. And then, like, we didn't speak for those six months straight.

FADEL: They didn't want to bring each other down. But recently, he and his girlfriend got back together and jumped their biggest hurdle¹¹. They went to a concert a lot like the one where Campbell was shot. It was country, and it was outside.

CAMPBELL: At first, I was really anxious because, like, the hotel was right there. And it was, like, the same setting and the same feeling. And she was right next to me. But then once I kind of got into it, I didn't really think about it anymore.

FADEL: There have been mass shootings since, like Parkland, where teens reached out to him to ask him, how did he get through it? Now, he didn't join the rallies. He's not political. But he shared his experience with those who asked.

CAMPBELL: I just told them, like, don't give up or, like, don't, like, let it affect your day-to-day life. Like, it's not, like, your whole life. You can get through it, and it gets better. Like, you don't have to dwell on the past and everything like that. Like, it actually gets better.

FADEL: What's changed most in the last year is Nick Campbell.

CAMPBELL: I don't sweat the small stuff anymore. Or, like, I don't have any enemies. I don't - like to be friends with everyone and, like, have as many connections as possible.

FADEL: So now, Lulu, he really just wants to focus on moving on. It's his junior year. He's loaded his schedule with AP classes, and he's got his eyes on universities in Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What a hard road he's gone through. And you've spoken to a lot of survivors over the past year, right? Is there a common takeaway that people have?

FADEL: Yeah. I feel like in - with every person that I've spoken to, people get a new sense of purpose, whether it's to appreciate life, like you heard from Nick Campbell, or activism, like we've seen with the teens in Parkland. A couple of survivors here in Las Vegas and in Reno started branches of the Brady Campaign to stopping gun violence. Survivors have formed support groups. And some are just focused on a new reality because of catastrophic injuries.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Leila, what about the investigation¹³? You know, there was so much speculation¹⁴ at the time about what might have motivated the shooter. Do we know anything more now a year on?

FADEL: No, we do not know why the shooter went up to the 32nd floor and opened fire. The police closed the investigation without a motive¹⁵. And in that report, the final police report, there are guesses - one brother saying he was bored, another brother saying he may have had some mental illnesses, a doctor saying he might have been bipolar. But he didn't have debt. He wasn't associated with any type of group that would explain an ideology¹⁶. And so, really, that question is still unanswered.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And, Leila, you actually met recently with a member of the Las Vegas Police Department who was on duty the night of the shooting to find out how things have changed for them.

FADEL: Yeah. I spoke¹² with Sgt. Justin Van Nest of the Las Vegas Metropolitan¹⁷ Police Department. And he told me he'd made peace with the possibility that he'll never know what the shooter's motive was. Take a listen.

JUSTIN VAN NEST: People, in order to heal and to cope and to rationalize it in their minds - they want some kind of reason that they could say, OK, that makes sense. But it's - what he did will never make sense to anybody.

FADEL: Van Nest was assigned to work overtime¹⁸ that day, securing the festival. And he was wrapping up around 10 p.m., and then the bangs started.

VAN NEST: We were taking gunfire, didn't really have a lot of room to move around. But, you know, later, we learned that gunfire was directed at us and not at the crowd at that time.

FADEL: The shooter was firing at the police vehicles. Van Nest and the other officers were pinned down, helping civilians¹⁹ find cover. It was chaos²⁰. By the time the 10 minutes of gunfire stopped, one off-duty policeman was dead, several others injured, and scores of civilians were killed and wounded. And before that day, Van Nest had never fired his weapon in the line of duty in the nine years he'd been on the force.

VAN NEST: So we have a training door that's set up to simulate an actual barricaded²¹ door.

FADEL: Today, Van Nest works to make sure his department is ready to respond in any mass casualty event. He oversees²² training for things like active-shooter scenarios²³.

(SOUNDBITE OF BANG)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Come on.

FADEL: In today's class, one officer is breaking down a metal door while the others stand guard. Van Nest uses his experience at the shooting last year to teach others.

VAN NEST: I have my own body cam footage, and I use it as an example of, you know, maybe this was all right what I did here or there. But look. Why did I do this. Or, you know, why did I do that? Here's what I could've done that might've been better, you know?

FADEL: The office where we meet is filled with binders²⁴ of every mass casualty event they find. They keep adding police reports to the collection. He knows now that responding in the chaos of gunfire and crowds is not the same as in a stale training room.

VAN NEST: You know, you have this vision, I think, as a cop that you're going to show up on some scene. You're going to go in there and slay²⁵ the dragon. You're going to have your gear on. And I can say that this absolutely wasn't what I had ever envisioned that I would encounter. It was not, you know, set up in this way that I wouldn't know where bullets were coming from. I didn't have my rifle in my hands.

FADEL: Justin Van Nest thinks about it every day, he says.

VAN NEST: This is something we can debrief²⁶ for the rest of our careers. And hopefully, it's the last one we have to debrief.

FADEL: So, Lulu, the police department is focused on learning from that event while continuing to police the daily crime in the city. And while they've closed their own investigation, an FBI report is expected later this year.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You know, this took place at a music festival. And we heard earlier from Nick Campbell that he started going to concerts again. And this policeman is saying that he still works overtime doing security after the shooting, so is it a sign that people have started to really recover from this?

FADEL: Well, if it's any indication, this past week, Jason Aldean, the country star that was performing when the shooting started, was back on stage in Las Vegas.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's NPR's Leila Fadel. Thank you so much.

FADEL: Thank you.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

7 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

8 bracelets   

n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The lamplight struck a gleam from her bracelets. 她的手镯在灯光的照射下闪闪发亮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On display are earrings, necklaces and bracelets made from jade, amber and amethyst. 展出的有用玉石、琥珀和紫水晶做的耳环、项链和手镯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

15 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

16 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

17 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

18 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

19 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

20 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

21 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

22 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

23 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

24 binders   

n.（司机行话）刹车器；（书籍的）装订机( binder的名词复数 )；（购买不动产时包括预付订金在内的）保证书；割捆机；活页封面

参考例句：

• Propellant binders based on these materials have excellent mechanical properties and good performance. 用这些材料制成的推进粘结剂的工作性能很好，而机械性能则更为突出。 来自辞典例句
• The and inferior binders fabrication process has become much more important. 黏合剂制作工艺优劣显得更加重要。 来自互联网

25 slay   

v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮

参考例句：

• He intended to slay his father's murderer.他意图杀死杀父仇人。
• She has ordered me to slay you.她命令我把你杀了。

26 debrief   

v.向…询问情况，听取汇报

参考例句：

• The men have been debriefed by British and Saudi officials.英国和沙特阿拉伯的官员听取了他们的情况汇报。
• He went to Rio after the CIA had debriefed him.他向中央情报局汇报完任务执行情况后就去了里约热内卢。