DBHS alumni hurt in Las Vegas shooting
October 11, 2017
Among the over 500 injured in the Oct. 1 shooting that left 58 dead at a Las Vegas country music festival was Diamond Bar High School 2004 alumnus Rocky Palermo.
Palermo was shot in the back but did not require surgery for the wound, according to a GoFundMe page created by Ryan Satin. However, he was told he would have shrapnel in his back for the rest of his life.
“[I was shot] just standing still, just trying to cover up the friends,” Palermo said in an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett. “I didn’t think I was going to make it out of there.”
Satin created the GoFundMe page in order to help Palermo with the $7,000 medical bill, with any extra money going to charity. At the time of writing, $6,836 had been raised by 123 people in five days.
“I sat at the car, made a phone call to my parents, told them I loved them, it was a terrorist attack, and that I was shot,” Palermo said.
Stephen Paddock has been identified as the shooter. He killed 58 people and injured almost 500 more before taking his own life, according to the Los Angeles Times.
According to CNN, a search of Paddock’s hotel room in the hotel suite of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino turned up 23 firearms and a hand-written note containing Paddock’s calculations about the logistics of the shooting. Police are currently investigated his motive and have determined that he acted alone. Palermo has been quoted on some websites as stating that he believes there were multiple shooters, saying he thinks he was shot by at someone from the ground.