Man shares heart-wrenching story of dad who ran off plane after learning son died in Vegas shooting
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Jim Trotter, an NFL reporter for ESPN, took to Twitter on Monday to share the harrowing moment he watched a father run off his flight after learning his son was among the victims of Sunday night's mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas.
"Worst flight EVER," Trotter tweeted. "After boarding, a man deplaned when he learned his son was killed in the Las Vegas shootings. My heart breaks for him."
Trotter told BuzzFeed News that he was getting ready to board a Southwest Airlines flight from Denver to San Diego around 8 a.m. on Monday morning when he witnessed the heart-wrenching scene unfold.
According to Trotter, he and another passenger were waiting at the top of the ramp to board when he saw a disheveled middle-aged man run off the aircraft.
"All of a sudden this guy pushed open the gate from the other side," he told BuzzFeed News. "A gate attendant said, 'Sir,' but he didn't respond. He put his stuff down on a chair. You could tell something was going on."
After Trotter boarded the plane, he says that a flight attendant informed him that the man had just been told his son was a victim of the deadly Las Vegas shooting, which left at least 58 dead and more than 500 injured.
"Man, seriously. No words," Trotter wrote in a subsequent post. "I can't even begin to understand his pain."
"It's taking everything I have not to weep."
Both the victim and his father currently remain unnamed.
These are the victims of the Las Vegas shooting:
Other victims of the attack who have been identified include Sonny Melton, a Tennesee man who was attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival with his wife on Sunday night, and Quinton Robbins, a 20-year-old student at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Two Canadian victims, Jessica Klymchuk and Jordan McIldoon, also died during Sunday night's massacre, according to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.
An off-duty Las Vegas police officer, whose name has not yet been released, was also confirmed dead.
