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Velvick was at Mandalay Bay during shooting

Velvick was at Mandalay Bay during shooting

Former Bassmaster Elite Series and Major League fishing pro Byron Velvick found himself in a place that he didn't want to be Sunday night – on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

In fact, Velvick was in a room that was reportedly catty-corner to the one occupied by mass murderer Stephen Paddock.

Velvick, a Boerne, Texas resident who lived in Boulder City, Nev. for many years, reportedly left the Route 91 Harvest Festival country music gathering in Las Vegas a half-hour before Paddock rained down gunfire on unsuspecting concert-goers.

Before his hotel-room door was breached by responding law enforcement officers, Paddock took his own life after perpetrating a mass shooting attack that killed 59 people and injured more than 500.

"Your first thought is 'Oh my gosh!,' everyone we know is in the middle of that mess," Velvick told San Antonio's KENS 5 television news reporter Sharon Ko in an interview.

"It was the most sickening feeling to sit in this room (on Sunday night) and to hear the rapid gunfire after rapid gunfire, to see the venue, to see the people running."

Velvick told Ko that during the attack, he could see bodies on the ground " ... not moving."

"(The) SWAT team, I had to open the door for them," said Velvick about the moments when law enforcement officers closed in on Paddock's room on the 32nd floor.

"They came in and had us sit down, shined a light on us, and they checked every corner of the room," he added. "They were going room to room and floor to floor."

The next morning, in the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, Velvick was reunited with friends who were down at street level during the deadly chaos.

Velvick told Ko that one friend had someone's blood on his face after that friend had administered CPR to a stricken girl as heroic rescue efforts began for the shooting victims.

While many people didn't make it out of the carnage without being struck or killed by the gunfire, Velvick's friends fortunately did.

"Thank God, everyone we came (here) with are safe," he said

Velvick and his group reportedly moved up their departure flights and left Las Vegas on Monday.

"I have a 6-year-old daughter and I wanted to go there and pick her up at school today," said an emotional Velvick as his interview with KENS 5 concluded. "But I'll be there tonight (on Monday) at 6 o'clock. thankfully, and I'll be able to see my daughter."

To see the report from KENS 5, click below.


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