Locals Cope After Leaving Las Vegas

CHARLOTTE, NC– As the horrific magnitude of the Las Vegas shooting unfolds, local families land back in Charlotte.

“I made it home. These people didn’t,” said Nellie Briggman. “It’s just hard to hear that.”

A grief shared at Charlotte Douglas Airport.

“We’re so lucky that we’re here. We landed back safely in North Carolina,” said Lynn Vaughan.

Some passengers think, it could have been me.

“It could have. It really could have,” said Briggman.

She was at Mandalay Bay before the gunman unloaded on the crowd.

She described the flight home.

“Very somber, very quiet. There was a couple that sat in front of us, and I’m not sure if they were at the scene, but this gentleman was pretty banged up, his wife was as well. I wanted to say something but you don’t know what to say,” said Briggman.

Southeast Psych Counselor Jonathan Hetterly says the gut reaction for many, even those not connected to the tragedy, could be to avoid crowds.

“They look for what can I change and what I can do because the idea of a mass shooting is really about loss of control, and it’s random,” said Hetterly.

He says the best thing you can do is not avoid crowds.

“Recognize that it’s an anomaly. There’s threats everywhere we go, but if we allow that to really limit our life, there’s not going to be a lot of things we’re going to be able to do,” said Hetterly.

Passengers coming home from Las Vegas say it may take time for some.

“All the folks that lost their lives and were hurt, it was just disheartening to hear that someone would do something as heartless as this man did,” said Briggman.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services posted on social media how to talk to children about these tragedies.

To read more information, click here.