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Midstate man recounts chaos in Las Vegas

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Police run to cover at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher)

(Harrisburg) — A midstate man is recounting the chaos in Las Vegas in the wake of last night’s mass shooting.

Rob Brown of Lebanon was playing black jack at the Bellagio casino, about 1.5 miles from the scene of the massacre, when he says he heard screaming and saw crowds of people rushing for the exits.

He and a friend started running, too when they heard a shooter was on the loose.

“We got to the back exit, we’re in the parking lot, and the cops were telling us to hide behind cars, don’t go out in the open,” Brown said. “At this point, we didn’t know how many shooters there were. People were saying there are multiple shooters, there was a terrorist attack. We had no idea what was going on.”

Police say a lone shooter was responsible.

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Rob Brown, of Lebanon, with his family in 2012 in Normandy, France.

Brown and his friend sheltered in a Starbucks kitchen in the neighboring Caesar’s Palace, before finding out the pool area had been secured.

Guards kept them there for hours until law enforcement officers were sure it was safe to leave.

Brown regularly travels to the city for business. He said he never experienced anything like the confusion throughout the Las Vegas strip after the lone gunman opened fire on a country music concert.

“You’re not expecting…you know, you’re in a nice casino, you’re playing cards with your buddies and all of a sudden– next thing you know–you’re running for your life.”

Brown is the father of Jordan Brown, a former WITF News intern who helped raise more than $100,000 for the Major Richard Winters Leadership Monument in Normandy, France.

*This story has been edited to more accurately describe the distance between the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay.*

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